WNEW | Where Rock Lives

A.M. Nuggets: The 27 Club Is Real

We've all heard of the "27 Club" and its famous members like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. It's the curse of the talented rock star, taken too soon by a combination of hard living and overwhelming inner demons. The story of the 27 Club is so ingrained in rock history that today's stars note the arrival of 28th birthdays as accomplishments, as a rule of thumb proved wrong.
Much has been written on the topic but never before has someone compiled a book quite like this. Enter The 27s, a new book from Eric Segalstad and Josh Hunter. More than just a history lesson, this book explores lesser-known members of the 27 Club dating all the way back to 1892. It's also beautifully illustrated, making it more than just a fun read.
To celebrate the release of The 27's, out today (10/27 - get it?), WNEW.com will be running excerpts from the book all week. See below for Part 1. We're also giving away autographed copies of The 27's - click here and enter to win.

Click through for an introduction from the authors, and check back here each day for Parts 2 and 3.

Kurt Cobain Still Alive and Buying Real Estate?

In early 1994 Kurt Cobain, leading member of Nirvana, had a relapse of his heroine addiction.

An intervention resulted in his being admitted to rehab. After less than a week, Cobain scaled the wall, got on a plane to his home of Seattle and soon after shot himself in the head.

Nobody really knows why, but many believe the tension over his punk attitude and his commercial success contributed. Since then, ironically, his fame has reached religious proportions, catapulting him from rock star fame to the patron saint of grunge (he still earns $10,000,000 per year).

But it seems that Kurt Cobain is still alive or rather his social security number is well enough to buy a $3.2 million mansion in New Jersey.

Courtney Love has reported that con men have stolen a total of $60 million from the Nirvana front-man's estate in the last five years.

"I knew it had been going on since when I went cuckoo - bananas - in 2003. It was fraud after fraud," Love told The Sun Newspaper in England. "But nobody believed me until now."

The house purchase by con men is only the latest example.

Courtney claims, "I did a check on my deceased husband's social security number and he has a house in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He bought it last year, I would like to know how, he should probably get his a-- back home if that is the case."

Kurt, if your out there still buying real estate, approach WNEW for your first interview!

The Forever 27 Club

You know, while sometimes we may despair that the 21st century hasn't producing a Robert Plant, a David Bowie or a John Lennon (or maybe we have but don’t know it yet), the advantages are that we are not getting as many body bags in rock and roll as we did in the late 60s and early 70s.

Rock and roll was an extreme sport during that era, the first time that one person would stand up in front of 500,000 people, the first time that drugs were readily available (drug dealers notoriously followed bands around as they were on tour), the first time that rock became more than a teeny bopper phenomenon and where rebellion had serious costs.

In the 50s, we did lose Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper to an airplane crash, we also lost the 50s icon Elvis to drugs. In the late 60s and early 70s, however, deaths reached an epic proportion, matched only by the death of Kurt Cobain in terms of spectacle 15 years later.

There is one very special group within a long list of deaths; those that died at the tender age of 27... The Forever 27.

1. Janis Joplin: Heroin overdose, a magical singer, originally with Big Brother and the Holding Company, her version of Summertime is incredible.

2. Jim Morrisson: Listed as dying from heart failure but almost definitely OD'd, massively influential, including the inspiration for Iggy Pop.

3. Brian Jones: Drowned in his swimming pool under mysterious circumstances; one of the most dangerous characters around if you were his girlfriend, lots of domestic violence and paranoia overshadowed his brilliance as a musician. Predicted the world music scene with his Moroccan experiments.

4. Jimi Hendrix: Asphyxiated in his own vomit after an OD on sleeping pills.

5. Alan Wilson: Possible suicide, leader of blues outfit Canned Heat.

6. Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan: Alcohol-related hemorrhage, founding member of the Grateful Dead.

7. Gary Thain: Bassist of Uriah Heep.

8. Peter Ham: Keyboardist and singer from Badfinger, hanged himself.

9. Robert Johnson: The central myth of rock and roll, died long before his most ardent admirers.

10. Kurt Cobain: Deified as the second coming ,perhaps nothing more than a screwed up (but talented) young man.