11 Musicians Who’ve Died At Age 27

1. Amy Winehouse: Died in July 23, 2011. 

At 3:54 pm two ambulances were called to Winehouse's home in Camden, London. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police confirmed her death. As of 24 July, the investigation to determine the cause of death, which is described by police as unexplained, is still ongoing.

2. Jeremy Michael Ward: Died in May 25, 2003. 

Roughly one month after the release of De-Loused, Jeremy Michael Ward was found dead in his apartment of an apparent heroin overdose. Jeremy Michael Ward was best known for his work with progressive alternative rock band, The Mars Volta, with whom he worked as a sound technician.

3. Kristen Pfaff: Died in June 16, 1994 

American bass guitarist.Pfaff was found dead in her apartment. On the floor there was a bag containing syringes and drug paraphernalia. Pfaff's death was attributed to "acute opiate intoxication," and ruled accidental.

4. Kurt Cobain: Died in April 5,1994

American singer, guitarist, and songwriter died in 1994. Committed suicide by gunshot in his home in Seattle. On April 8th, Cobain’s body was discovered at his Lake Washington home by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system. Apart from a minor amount of blood coming out of Cobain’s ear, the electrician reported seeing no visible signs of trauma, and initially believed that Cobain was asleep until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing … for too many years now”. A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were also found in his body. Cobain’s body had been lying there for days; the coroner’s report estimated Cobain to have died on April 5th.

5. Jean Michel Basquiat: Died in August 12, 1988.

American artist died of mixed-drug toxicity (he had been combining cocaine and heroin, known as “speedballing”) in his Manhattan loft/studio.  

6. Chris Bell: Died in 1978

Singer and guitarist ,when he lost control of his small Triumph TR-7 sports car, sometime after 1 a.m. He was on his way home from his father's restaurant in East Memphis. The car struck a wooden light pole on the side of the road, killing him instantly.

7. Jim Morrison: Died in July 3, 1971.

American singer, poet, songwriter, writer and film director. Died in the bathtub of his Paris apartment. Under French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play. The cause of death was officially listed as “heart failure”, but heroin use was probably involved, possibly inhaled because he thought it was cocaine. His girlfriend, Pamela Courson, gave numerous contradictory versions of his death. Courson died of a heroin overdose three years later, at the age of – you guessed it – 27. 

8.Jimmy Hendrix: Died in september 18,1970.

American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer died of asphyxiation. Died in a London hotel room under circumstances which has never been fully explained. According to the doctor who initially attended to him, Hendrix asphyxiated (literally drowned) in his own vomit, mainly red wine. His girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, claimed that he had taken her prescribed sleeping pills, but her comments about that morning were often contradictory, and there have been suggestions of blame cast on her. In 1996, in the face of legal action, Dannemann committed suicide.

9. Janis Joplin: Died in October 4, 1970.

American singer, songwriter, and music arranger. Died in a Los Angeles motel room of a heroin overdose, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol. She had recently become engaged, and was involved in recording her band’s album Pearl. The song “Mercedes Benz” on the album was the last thing she recorded.

10. Brian Jones: Died in July 3, 1969. 

English guitarist. Drowned in the swimming pool of his home in Hartfield, Sussex, England. 

After a second arrest for marijuana possession, sporadic contributions to the Rolling Stones (which he co-formed), substance abuse and mood swings, Jones was informed by the other members of the band that a new guitarist would be added to the lineup, and that a tour of the US would go ahead without him. The last known photographs show him looking bloated, with deep-set eyes, but other witnesses state that he was “happier than he had ever been” and “excited about his own plans”. The circumstances of his death are unknown. 

11. Robert Johnson: Died in August 16, 1938. 

American singer and guitarist died of poisoning.The details are unknown, and there are a number of accounts and theories. When Johnson was offered an open bottle of whiskey, his friend and fellow blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked it out of his hand, and told him that he should never drink from an open bottle. Johnson allegedly said, “Don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand”. Soon after, he was offered another open bottle and accepted it. That bottle was laced with strychnine. Johnson is reported to have started to feel ill throughout the evening and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning hours. Over the next three days, his condition steadily worsened and witnesses reported that he died in a convulsive state of severe pain—symptoms which are consistent with strychnine poisoning.