I would never join a club that would have me for a member, Groucho Marx once said.
The club of rock artists who died at the age of 27 is one group no-one would want to belong to.
Members include Janis Joplin. Robert Johnson. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain and now, sadly but by no means unexpectedly, Amy Winehouse can be added to the list.
Coming to terms with fame at a relatively early age brings all sorts of temptations and pressures. You have to be a strong personality to stay grounded and resist the easy access to the sex and drugs lifestyle that goes with the territory. Both bring short-term pleasures but can, ultimately, be destructive.
Amy struck me as an artist who had the potential for greatness but was lacking the temperament or willpower to fulfill her potential. Her death comes as no great shock as she has been on a self-destructive course for years.
Being hounded constantly by the press didn’t help and the media must take some of the blame for the fact that she was unable to get her life on track. At the same time she obviously lacked someone with a level head by her side who she could trust.
Songs like Back To Black and Rehab will endure but there could and should have been so much more. The waste of a life half lived is a reminder that the connecting factor for the 27 Club is not greatness but weakness.
Related link:
Rock stars dead at 27
