27, Howard Sounes
27, Howard Sounes
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

27
A History of the 27 Club Through the Lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse

Author: Howard Sounes

Narrator: Todd McLaren

Unabridged: 12 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/12/2013


Synopsis

When singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in 2011, the press inducted her into what Kurt Cobain's mother named the 27 Club. "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club," she said in 1994, after being told that her son, the front man of Nirvana, had committed suicide. "I told him not to." Kurt's mom was referring to the extraordinary roll call of iconic stars who died at the same young age. The Big Six are Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Kurt Cobain and, now, Amy Winehouse. All were talented. All were dissipated. All were 27.

Journalists write about "the curse of the 27 Club" as if there is a supernatural reason for this series of deaths. Others invoke astrology, numerology, and conspiracy theories to explain what has become a modern mystery. In this haunting book, author Howard Sounes conducts the definitive forensic investigation into the lives and deaths of the six most iconic members of the Club, plus another forty-four music industry figures who died at 27, to discover what, apart from coincidence, this phenomenon signifies.

In a grimly fascinating journey through the dark side of the music business over six decades, Sounes uncovers a common story of excess, madness, and self-destruction. The fantasies, half-truths, and mythologies that have become associated with Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain, and Winehouse are debunked. Instead a clear and compelling narrative emerges, one based on hard facts, that unites these lost souls in both life and death.

About Howard Sounes

Howard Sounes is the bestselling author of nonfiction books on a range of subjects, including biographies of Charles Bukowski, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan; the true crime bestseller Fred & Rose; and a history of the arts in the 1970s. His books are published in the United Kingdom, in the United States, and in translation in more than twenty languages. He has presented documentary programs for television and radio and is often interviewed about his specialist subjects. Howard lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ on February 06, 2017

This made for a semi-entertaining read...but I have to say the title of this should should have been "How Amy Winehouse - and Some Other People - Died. Oh, and They Were 27." Not only that but there was a lot of assassination of character happening here, all of which seemed to be based on supposition......more

Goodreads review by Margaret on October 13, 2024

Fascinating book of the demise of these talented people gone too young. Their lives had a lot of similarities which is very sad. On the outside we think they have it all but it’s a very different story for the pressure of fame and what they have to go through to keep up the stamina for so many gigs......more

Goodreads review by Pat on September 11, 2013

I was very impressed by the author's thorough research and his sane and balanced viewpoint. He writes well and I found it quite compelling. The stories of the '27' Club's principal members are sobering (quite ironic given the role of alcohol in so many of the stories) and generally sad. Most of them......more

Goodreads review by Mary on October 09, 2014

The author's basic premise is that dying at age 27 is a coincidence but then spends considerable time documentating even more absurd coincidences with nary an insight in sight. Cobain and Winehouse liked their grandmothers! Morrison and Winehouse thought children were fun!......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on December 03, 2016

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and I thought it was very well done. This was one of my first nonfiction audiobooks and I thought being that it's an audiobook it would be boring, on the contrary it definitely was not. This gave us an in-depth look at the life and death of some of th......more