Hollywood's morbid 27 Club: The 6 musicians' deaths that started a cultural phenomenon

Arguably, the foundation of the 27 Club was Delta blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Robert Johnson, who influenced legends like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Bob Dylan, despite only recording 29 songs during his short-lived career.

However, his talents were cut short in August 1938, as just a few months after his 27th birthday, he died of strychnine poisoning and pneumonia. While his death certificate listed no official cause, he was reportedly poisoned with strychnine-laced whiskey provided by a jealous husband at a juke joint where he was performing. 

One of the founding members of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones was 27 when he was found dead at the bottom of the swimming pool at his home, Cotchford Farm, in East Sussex, on July 3, 1969. His cause of death was listed as "death by misadventure," noting his liver and heart were heavily enlarged due to drug and alcohol consumption. 

While Brian's death was ruled an accidental drowning, various conspiracy theories over the years have suggested foul play, including his former bandmate, Keith Richards, who once said: "And still the mystery of his death hasn't been solved. I don't know what happened, but there was some nasty business going on."

Widely considered the greatest electric guitarist in music history, Jimi Hendrix died at the Samarkand Hotel in London, England, at age 27, on September 18, 1970. 

His death was ruled an accidental drug intoxication after he died from asphyxiation after inhaling his own vomit while unconscious from an overdose of Vesparax, a potent barbiturate sleeping pill he took at his girlfriend Monika Dannemann's apartment.

Just 16 days later, Janis Joplin became a member of the 27 Club when she died on October 4, 1970, after an accidental heroin overdose, complicated by alcohol intake. Her road manager found her dead on the floor of her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles. 

It was later revealed that the heroin she purchased was unusually potent, causing several other overdoses in the area that same week.

The Doors frontman Jim Morrison was found dead in a bathtub in his rented apartment in Paris, France, by his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson on July 3, 1971. As no foul play was suspected, French law did not require an autopsy, so his death was declared to be heart failure, likely aggravated by heavy alcohol consumption.

Jim's death closed out the tragic 1969–1971 cluster that permanently established the mythology of the 27 Club, until Kurt Cobain's death 23 years later.

Nirvana frontman and leading figure of the early '90s grunge movement, Kurt Cobain died by suicide on April 5, 1994. A scheduled electrician found him three days later inside the greenhouse above the garage of his Seattle home. His toxicology reports confirmed a high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium in his system at the time of death. 

His death officially coined and popularized the term 'The 27 Club,' especially when his mother famously told a local newspaper at the time: "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club."

The 27 Club attracted even more attention when Amy Winehouse died on July 23, 2011. She was found dead in her bed at her home in Camden, London, after she resumed heavy drinking following a period of abstinence. 

Her cause of death was ruled accidental alcohol poisoning, with toxicology reports revealing her blood alcohol level was over five times the legal driving limit at the time of her passing.