Rock Stars Dead at 27

Dead at 27. Not what these rock stars thought they'd be famous for, yet few in that industry seem to learn by example. Here's a comprehensive list of some talented men and women senslessly cut down in their prime to join Club 27:

1. Brian Jones, founding member of The Rolling Stones, 07-03-69. Jones was found by his girlfriend floating in his pool in England. Suspicions surround this case that it might have been murder, but the final report was accidental drowning while under the influence of alcohol. The death certificate made official, "Death by misadventure".

2. Ron "PigPen" McKernan, founding member of the Grateful Dead, 08-09-73. Suffering with liver damage from prolonged alcohol abuse, McKernan was found dead in his home from a gastrointestinal hemmorage.

3. Janis Joplin, 10-04-70. Joplin's body was found on the floor in her room at the Landmark Hotel in California. She suffered from extreme alcoholic intoxication and succumbed to a heroin overdose.

4. Mia Zapata, lead singer for The Gits, 07-07-93. Rather than taking a taxi, Zapata walked home from the Comet Tavern in Seattle in the early morning hours. Patrons at the bar reported that Zapata was wearing a headset when she left, and may not have been able to hear the danger approaching her. Her badly beaten body was found by a prostitute, raped and strangled. Zapata's killer was caught in Florida, tried, convicted and is serving a 36 year sentence.

5. Les Harvey, guitarist for Scottish band, Stone the Crows, 05-03-72. While performing with the band, Harvey touched a microphone with wet hands and was electrocuted. He died on stage.

6. Jim Morrison, The Doors, 07-03-71. Morrison was found dead in a Paris hotel room from an apparent drug overdose. Some say he mistook heroin for cocaine, others say he had a heart attack. However, there was no autopsy on Morrison, so, we will never know.

7. Jesse Belvin, 06-02-60. Belvin was best known for his smash hit, "Earth Angel", and also had the first racially intergrated audience in Little Rock, Arkansas. Sadly, Belvin and his wife were killed in a head-on collision as they were driving home from a performance Belvin shared with Sam Cooke, Mary Johnson and Jackie Wilson.

8. Peter Ham, leader and songwriter for Badfinger, 04-24-75. Distaught by the band's corrupt manager, Stan Polley, and the allegations of Polley stealing the royalties, Ham hanged himself in the garage of his Surrey, England home. In the suicide note, Ham blamed Polley for his mental distress and broken spirit. Ironically, Polley would later be arrested on similar, yet unrelated charges of embezzlement, but pleaded "no contest" and walked away.

9. Jimi Hendrix, 09-18-70. Hendrix died in his girlfriend's flat in Notting Hill, London, under suspicious conditions. Monika Danneman told police that Hendrix took nine of her Vesperax sleeping pills, and had died shortly thereafter. However, police say that Hendrix was found alone in the flat and had been dead for quite some time. The official cause of death was finalized as asphyxiation by vomit, but the timeline and circumstances don't line up with witness testimony. The Hendrix case closed and the truth was taken with him to his grave.

10. Dave Alexander, bassist for The Stooges, 02-10-75. After a long stint with alcohol, Alexander was admitted to an Ann Arbor, Michigan hospital for treatment of pancreatitis. But, before his release, he died suddenly of pulmanory edema, or fluid in the lungs.

11. Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, 04-05-94. The apparent cause of death indicates suicide with a shotgun, but conspiracy theorists maintain that Cobain had too much heroin in his system to pull the trigger himself. In addition, there were no fingerprints on the gun and handwriting discrepancies in the suicide note. Cobain's death occured during a messy divorce from Courtney Love, but with lack of sufficient evidence, this case was not pursued as a homicide.

12. Bryan Ottoson, guitarist for Nu-Metal band American Head Charge, 04-19-05. Ottoson was placed by witnesses in a bar on a drinking binge after the band's concert. Later that evening, he took an apparent overdose of prescription medicine, and his body was found in the back of the band's tour bus. Ottoson showed no signs of suicidal behavior and his death was finalized as accidental.

13. Alan Wilson, lead vocalists for Canned Heat, 03-09-70. Wilson, guitarist and chief songwriter for the group, had been known to be suicidal. On March 9th, his body was found on a hill in Topanga Canyon, Ca, dead from a drug overdose.

14. Freaky Tah, Hip-Hop singer with Lost Boyz, 03-28-99. Raymond Rogers, AKA Freaky Tah, was shot in the head while leaving a birthday party for a band member. His killer, Raheem Fletcher, was sentenced to just 7 years for manslaughter.

15. Fat Pat Hawkins, DJs Screwed Up Click, 02-03-98. The rapper was shot dead as he left his promoter's apartment. No legal resolution was made for his murder.

16. Robert Johnson, considered to be the "Father of Rock 'n Roll" and the best Blues artist in history. 08-16-38.
Johnson was the most famous of the Delta Blues crowd in Mississippi. Rumor has it that Johnson was flirting with a married woman at a dancehall, and that he later accepted an opened bottle of whiskey and drank it. Over the next three days, Johnson fell ill to stomach pains and convulsions. His death was debated that he was poisoned from a whiskey bottle laced with stychnine, however, conclusive evidence was never found.

17. Gary Thain, bassist for Uriah Heep, 12-08-75. The New Zealand-born guitarist was distraught from being fired from the band due to his inability to perform from drugs and alcohol. in addition, Thain had suffered a severe electric shock, was battling an incurable STD and was a prolonged drug user. He died of a heroin overdose.

18. Kristen Pfaff, guitarist for Hole, 06-16-94. Pfaff became fast friends will Kurt Cobain and many contend that through Cobain, she developed a heroin habit. At Cobain's death, Pfaff decided to leave Seattle to return to her native Minneappolis. However, on the morning of her flight, Pfaff was found dead in her apartment, her body lying amidst a collection of heroin paraphenelia. The official cause of death was accidental overdose, but her inner circle claims she was murdered.

19. Jeremy Michael Ward, sound and vocal operator for The Mars Volta, 05-25-03. Just after a tour with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ward was found dead in his Los Angeles home from a heroin overdose. The official ruling was accidental death.

20. Sean Patrick McGabe, lead singer for vampire group Ink and Dagger. McGabe, known for his eratic behavior, would throw eggs at Hari-Krishnas and yogurt at vegetarians. He was found dead in a motel room after chocking on his own vomit.

21. Dennes Dale Boon, guitarist and vocalist for the California punk band, The Minutemen, 12-22-85. Boon was sleeping in the back of a van when it crashed, throwing him to his death with a broken neck.

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