The Science and Icons of The 27 Club

The "27 Club" is a tragic list of talented, notable young musicians who lost their lives far too soon. Starting with Robert Johnson in 1938, the deadly phenomenon has stretched for nearly a century to claim the likes of Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Brian Jones. The 27 Club's Wiki page has a list of 49 musicians who have died by the age of 27.

That's a lot of people. Coincidence?

Dianna Theadora Kenny, Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Behavioral Science, and professor of Psychology and Music at the University of Sydney, wanted to know.

She examined the deaths of 11,054 musicians between 1950-2010 to test the modern legend. Her results found that only 1.3% (144) of them died at age 27, while 1.4% (153) died at age 28. Age 56 had the highest number of deaths, with a whopping 2.2% (239).

So why all the hype about the age of 27 --  why not 28 or 56? -- and how did it become a club?

"The 27 Club is not just about the numbers." says Kenny.

There are qualities that set them apart from the rest of the population, Kenny explains, other than just dying by a certain age.

"These qualities include exceptional talent, the contribution of groundbreaking innovations in their musical genre, intense psychological pain, a squalid death at their peak, and immortalisation – each of 'the tragic six' has become a cult figure."

All of the artists listed above were major music and cultural icons for a reason. They all slammed an everlasting impression on the world before their deaths, and became legends after they left this world. Kenny believes the 27 Club is a way of remembering them.

Kenny also went on to research death rates and ways musicians died per music genre.

She found that Pop musicians' deaths due to homicide, suicide, and accident were drastically higher than the rest of the population of similar age and gender.

Kenny also found that different genres carry different hazards. For example, although suicide accounted for only 6.8% of death overall, it accounted for almost 20% of deaths in the Metal genre, but only 0.9% in Gospel. Deaths due to homicide hit 6.8% on average, but spiked up to a 50% average for Hip Hop and Rap artists.

These sobering statistics show the incredible impact of music. It's as much a part of life as death.

Kenny's curiosity about music and its impact on life (and thereby death), is part of humanity's unbreakable bond with music. Each of these musicians' impact on music left a resounding imprint on the world. Remembering them in their death helps us remember them in life.