From the Archives:

I don't make this kind of art anymore.

27 club

Name
Date of death
-Cause of death
-Cause of fame

Brian Jones
July 3, 1969
-Drowned in swimming pool.
-Rolling Stones founder and guitarist / multi-instrumentalist.

Jimi Hendrix
September 18, 1970
-Asphyxiated on vomit after overdose of sleeping pills.
-Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys.

Janis Joplin
October 4, 1970
-Probable heroin overdose.
-Lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band.

Jim Morrison
July 3, 1971
-Official cause of death listed as "heart failure", however, no autopsy was performed.
-Poet, lead singer, songwriter and video director for The Doors.

Kurt Cobain
c. April 5, 1994
-Officially ruled as suicide by shotgun.
-Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana.

Louis Chauvin
March 26, 1908
-Neurosyphilitic sclerosis
-Ragtime musician

Robert Johnson
August 16, 1938
-Unknown, but typically credited to strychnine poisoning.
-Bluesman. Recorded very famous and influential set of 29 songs that influenced many famous musicians after him.

Jesse Belvin
February 6, 1960
Car wreck.
-R&B singer and songwriter

Rudy Lewis
May 20th, 1964
-Drug overdose.
-Vocalist of The Drifters

Malcolm Hale
October 31, 1968
-Carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty space heater.
-Original member of Spanky and Our Gang.

Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson
September 3, 1970
-Barbiturate overdose, possible suicide.
-Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat.

Linda Jones
March 14, 1972
-Diabetic coma.
-R&B singer

Leslie Harvey
May 3, 1972
-Electrocuted by live mic.
-guitarist for Stone the Crows

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
March 8, 1973
-Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism.
-Founding member, keyboardist and singer of the Grateful Dead.

Dave Alexander
February 10, 1975
-Pulmonary edema.
-Bassist for the Stooges.

Peter Ham
April 24, 1975
-Suicide by hanging.
-Keyboardist and guitarist, leader of Badfinger.

Gary Thain
December 8, 1975
-Drug overdose.
-Former bassist of Uriah Heep.

Helmut Köllen
May 3, 1977
-Carbon monoxide poisoning.
-Bassist with 1970s German prog rock band Triumvirat.

Chris Bell
December 27, 1978
-Car wreck; ran into a telephone pole.
-Singer-songwriter and guitarist of power pop band Big Star and solo.

Jacob Miller
March 23, 1980
-Car wreck.
-Jamaican reggae artist and lead singer for Inner Circle.

D. Boon
December 22, 1985
-Lying down in the back of a van when it veered off road, he was ejected from the vehicle and broke his neck.
-Guitarist, lead singer of punk band the Minutemen.

Alexander Bashlachev
February 17, 1988
-Suicide by jumping
-Russian poet, rock musician and songwriter

Jean-Michel Basquiat
August 12, 1988
-Speedball overdose.
-Painter and graffiti artist; formed the band Gray.

Pete de Freitas
June 14, 1989
-Motorcycle wreck on his way back from filming a music video.
-Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen.

Mia Zapata
July 7, 1993
-Murdered.
-Lead singer of the Gits.

Kristen Pfaff
June 16, 1994
-Officially ruled as an accidental heroin overdose.
-Bass guitarist for Hole and Janitor Joe.

Richey James Edwards
c. February 1, 1995
-Disappeared; officially presumed dead November 23, 2008.
-Lyricist and guitarist for Manic Street Preachers.

Fat Pat
February 3, 1998
-Shot.
-Rapper and member of Screwed Up Click.

Freaky Tah
March 28, 1999
-Shot.
-Popular rapper and member of the rap group Lost Boyz.

Sean Patrick McCabe
August 28, 2000
-Asphyxiated on vomit after ingesting too much alcohol.
-Lead singer of Ink & Dagger.

Jeremy Michael Ward
May 25, 2003
-Heroin overdose.
-The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator.

Bryan Ottoson
April 19, 2005
-Prescription drug overdose.
-Guitarist for American Head Charge.

Orish Grinstead
c. April 20, 2008
-Kidney failure.
-Founding member of '90s R&B group 702.