Did Amy Winehouse Suffer the Curse of the 27 Club?

Cold-hard stats—and a numerologist—say no, even if Grammy-winning "Rehab" singer passed away at same age as Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and more

Jim Morrison died at 27, like Janis Joplin died at 27, like Jimi Hendrix died at 27, like Kurt Cobain died at 27.

Like Amy Winehouse died at 27.

Are rock and pop gods cursed to die at that specific age?

Statistically, no.

Among the 173 acts inducted to date into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as performers, there are only seven singers or musicians who belong to the so-called 27 Club, as mythologized and compiled at the likes of The Forever 27 Club and Wikipedia: Morrison; Joplin; Hendrix; the Drifters' Rudy Lewis; the Grateful Dead's Ron McKernan; the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones; and the Stooges' Dave Alexander.

That leaves dozens upon dozens of legendary performers who either died younger, lived longer or, indeed, are still among us.

There are, in fact, nearly as many Hall of Famers who died at 32, to pick one age at random, as 27: Sam Cooke; Led Zeppelin's John Bonham; the Mamas & the Papas' Cass Elliot; the Supremes' Florence Ballard; and, the Who's Keith Moon.

Among the larger pool of the population, 27-year-olds are generally among the hardiest. At least in the United States, they die in lower numbers than their elders from drug overdoses, suicides and overall causes. This was true even in 1970 and 1971, when the back-to-back-to-back deaths of Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison occurred.

It was that latter sequence of events, along with the 1994 passing of Cobain (and, especially, the 1994 quote from Cobain's mother about the Nirvana rocker "join[ing] that stupid club"), that spurred the present-day obsession with Club 27.

But NumbersLady.com numerologist Glynis McCants, for one, puts no stock in the idea that 27-year-olds—rock stars or not—are cursed. 

"There's no such thing as a bad number in numerology," McCants told us.

That said, according to McCants, 27 can be a challenge. To anyone with rudimentary math skills, the two and the seven added together equal nine, which, to a numerologist, equals family and childhood issues—or, rather, the business of coping with those issues.  

"You're dealing with a lot at 27," McCants said. "If you can make it to 28, you're going to step up."

And not have to worry about being drummed into a club against your will—and against all logic.