"27: A History of the 27 Club through the Lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse" by Howard Sounes

I would like to introduce you a book that I have just finished reading. It is about the "27 Club": musicians, artists and actors who have passed away at the age of 27.
The book mainly covers the stories of the most famous musicians of the 27 Club, namely Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. The readers can also reach an extensive list of other celebrities who have died at the age of 27 as an appendix.

I have always wondered if there has been any real explanation about the same age deaths of these great music people. Maybe a little spoiler but the book does not try to dig out the reasons why all these people died at the age of 27 nor tries to make any correlations between them.
I guess there is no proof about that at least on a statistical or a scientific level. However the reader can immediately understand one single commonality among these talented musicians is that their excessive alcohol and drug abuse...

Rolling Stones incl. Brian Jones - "Paint It Black" in 1965

The book is fun to read, as the writer, Howard Sounes, has made an impressive research especially about the last days of the musicians. However I must say that the axis of the book revolves around Amy Winehouse, maybe due to the fact that her death was the most recent one or Sounes probably had conducted a better research on her.

Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Hey Joe"

Sounes tries to tell each rock star's story mostly based on facts. In certain parts of the book, he tries to connect the tragedies to either their childhoods or their relations with their past or at the time present lovers. But again he avoids making concrete assumptions.

Janis Joplin - "Piece of My Heart"in 1968

One argument that the writer clearly makes all along the book is that all the iconic members of the 27 Club have entered a self-destructive path since their teen years. It is sad to read about their physiological and psychological meltdowns but on the other hand it is not fair to judge or easy to show empathy to such great talented minds.

The Doors - "Riders On The Storm"

If you expect to discover urban myths and legends, this is not the book to read on the 27 Club. In fact I don't know if there is such a book. However if you are really interested on the critical snapshots (I say snapshots because there are many other books to read about these 6 talents if you want full life stories or biographies) of these rock starts and more importantly the causes what have driven them all to this tragic end, this might be the book to read.

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit", last time it was played live

I was planning to post a clip from Amy Winehouse's last concert in Belgrade (in which she was really in a bad shape) but then I thought that it is not fair to her to be remembered like that so here is another one from 2008 (can't promise she is sober on this one tough...).

While I was reading the book I couldn't help thinking if these tragic events could have been eliminated? Could they have enjoyed normal lives? Who are the ones that are really responsible? Many questions, but definitely one answer: they were great talents and none of them will ever be replaced...