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June 14th, 1989 – Pete de Freitas
Pete de Freitas drummer for Echo And The Bunnymen dies in a motorcycle accident en-route to Liverpool from London at age 27. He was riding a 900cc Ducati motorcycle on the A51 road in Longdon Green, Staffordshire when he collided with a motor vehicle at approximately 16:00. His ashes are buried in Goring-on-Thames.
July 3rd, 1973 – Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison of The Doors is found dead in a bathtub at age 27. No autopsy is performed, and while drugs are suspected, the official cause is listed as “heart attack induced by respiratory problems.” He co-wrote some of the group’s biggest hits, including ‘Light My Fire’, ‘Love Me Two Times’, and ‘Love Her Madly.’ On the 25th anniversary of his death an estimated 15,000 fans gathered at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France to pay their respects.
July 3rd 1969 – Brian Jones
Brian Jones drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol after taking a midnight swim in his pool, aged 27. His body was found at the bottom of the pool by his Swedish girlfriend Anna Wohlin. The coroner’s report stated “Death by misadventure”, and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. Jones was one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones and in the early 60’s used the name “Elmo Lewis.”
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May 20th 1964 – Rudy Lewis
Rudy Lewis (born Charles Rudolph Harrell; August 23, 1936 – May 20, 1964) was an American rhythm and blues singer known for his work with the Drifters. In 1988, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On May 21, 1964, when the group was due to record “Under the Boardwalk,” which had been written for Lewis, he was found dead in his Harlem hotel room from the previous night. Former lead vocalist Johnny Moore was brought back to perform lead vocals for the recording. The next day, the Drifters recorded “I Don’t Want to Go On Without You” which was led by Charlie Thomas in tribute to Lewis.
April 5th, 1994 – Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician who was the co-founder, lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona, Cobain’s compositions widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock. He was heralded as a spokesman of Generation X and is highly recognized as one of the most influential alternative rock musicians.
On April 8, Cobain’s body was discovered at his Lake Washington Boulevard home by an electrician, who had arrived to install a security system. A suicide note was found, addressed to Cobain’s childhood imaginary friend Boddah, that stated that Cobain had not “felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing … for too many years now”. Cobain’s body had been there for days; the coroner’s report estimated he died on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27.
March 8th, 1973 – Ron McKernan
Ron McKernan (born on September 8th, 1945), organ, and one of the founding members of Grateful Dead who played in the group from 1965 to 1972. Unlike the other members of the Grateful Dead, McKernan avoided psychedelic drugs, preferring to drink alcohol (namely whiskey and flavored fortified wine). By 1971, his health had been affected by alcoholism and liver damage and doctors advised him to stop touring. He died on 8th March 1973 from cirrhosis of the liver aged 27.
October 4th, 1970 – Janis Joplin
Joplin cultivated a rebellious manner and styled herself partly after her female blues heroines and partly after the Beat poets. Her first song, “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do”, was recorded on tape in December 1962 at the home of a fellow University of Texas student.
On Sunday evening, October 4, 1970, Joplin was found dead on the floor of her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel by her road manager and close friend John Byrne Cooke.
Alcohol was present in the room. Newspapers reported that no other drugs or paraphernalia were present
Joplin was cremated at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, and her ashes were scattered from a plane into the Pacific Ocean.
October 7th, 1966 – Johnny Kidd
Johnny Kidd was killed in a car crash while on UK tour in Radcliffe, Manchester, aged 27. Pirates’ bassist Nick Simper, who later became an original member of Deep Purple, was also in the car with Kidd but he suffered only some cuts and a broken arm. Kidd scored the 1960 UK No.1 single ‘Shakin’ All Over’ as Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.
September 18th, 1970 – Jimi Hendrix
Hendrix was left-handed, but instead of using a left-handed guitar, he played a right-handed guitar upside-down.
Jimi died in 1970 after he choked on his own vomit. He had taken nine pills of the barbiturate vesperax.
He was entirely self-taught on guitar. He could not read music, instead he communicated his musical visions through colors: “Some feelings make you think of different colors, jealousy is purple; I’m purple with rage or purple with anger, and green with envy…”
July 23rd, 2011 – Amy Winehouse
Winehouse was found dead on July 23, 2011, at her home in London. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. In October, the coroner reported that her death was caused by alcohol poisoning, with her blood-alcohol level 5 times over the legal driving limit at the time of her death.
March 16th, 1991 – Chris Austin
Austin was most known for playing guitar and fiddle for Ricky Skaggs’s and Reba McEntire’s road bands. Austin toured with McEntire until an airplane carrying Austin, six other members of McEntire’s band, and her road manager crashed into a nearby mountain after taking off from an airport in San Diego, California, killing all on board.
December 8th, 1975 – Gary Thain
Thain joined the Keef Hartley Band, performing at Woodstock in 1969 and, in 1971, they toured with Uriah Heep; Uriah Heep asked him to join the band (replacing Mark Clarke) in February 1972. He stayed in Uriah Heep until February 1975, playing on four studio albums: Demons & Wizards, The Magician’s Birthday, Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld as well as a live album, Uriah Heep Live.
Thain died of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose, on 8 December 1975, aged 27, at his flat in Norwood Green in London.
April 24th, 1975 – Pete Ham
Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as a lead vocalist of and composer for the 1970s rock band Badfinger, whose hit songs include “No Matter What”, “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue”. He also co-wrote the ballad “Without You”, a worldwide number-one hit for Harry Nilsson that has become a standard covered by hundreds of artists. Ham was granted two Ivor Novello Awards related to the song in 1973.
Ham died by suicide in 1975 at the age of 27, when he became depressed while embroiled in band-related issues, such as label and management problems, as well as a lack of funds.
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