The so-called ‘27 Club’ came about after the untimely deaths of huge musicians, including Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin, who all died aged 27.
People are quick to speculate the reasons as to why these musicians died at such a young age.
However, researchers have debunked the myth that famous people are more likely to die at 27.
Scientists revealed that although famous musicians tend to die younger than other famous people, there is no evidence that suggests the age of 27 has an increased risk of death.
A sociologist from the University of California, Zackary Dunivin, told The Scientific American: “The weird thing about this particular myth is: even if you don’t know about the 27 Club, you encounter more famous dead people who died at 27.
“We’ve made this myth appear to be true because the appearance that more people who die at 27 is real.”
“We are meaning-making machines—that’s what we do as human beings,” Dunivin said. “You look at that and say, ‘It can’t be a coincidence!’”
Researchers from Indiana University looked at data on 344,000 notable people who had Wikipedia pages devoted to them.
Publishing their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers said the 27 Club effect could arise from the myth’s influence online.
“The '27 Club' refers to the widespread legend that notable people, particularly musicians, are unusually likely to die at age 27,” they wrote.
“Using Wikipedia data, we show that while age 27 does not hold greater risk of mortality for notable persons, those who died at 27 are, as a group, exceptionally notable compared to those who died at other young ages.
“The 27 Club legend originated from a statistically improbable event circa 1970, wherein four superstar musicians died within the span of two years all at age 27.
“This coincidence captured the public imagination such that our fascination with the 27 Club brought itself into being.”
The “statistically improbable” event referred to the deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, who all died at age 27 between 1969 and 1971.
Brian Jones was a founding member of the Rolling Stones. He was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in East Sussex on 3 July 1969.
Jones struggled with drugs and alcohol and had an enlarged liver and heart when he died.
Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix died on September 18, 1970 after he collapsed at a London Party.
It was later discovered he had choked on his own vomit while intoxicated.
Singer-songwriter Janis Joplin died on 4 October 1970 from a suspected heroin overdose.
Jim Morrison, lead vocalist of the band The Doors, died a year to the day that Brian Jones died.
This myth was revived after the deaths of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994 and jazz singer Amy Winehouse in 2011.
