'27 Club' of dead rockers is a myth

[Saint in Paradise]

Fame boosts the risk of early death for rock stars but the claim that the peril is greatest at the age of 27 is false, an Australian-led study published by the British Medical Journal has found.

 

The theory of the "27 Club" spread earlier this year when Amy Winehouse joined Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones and other musicians who succumbed to the rock'n'roll lifestyle when they were 27 years of age.

 

Health statisticians led by Adrian Barnett of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia put the "27 Club" hypothesis to the test for the study, published in the journal's Christmas issue on Tuesday.

 

They compiled a data base of 1,046 musicians - solo artists and band members - who had a No. 1 album in the British charts between 1956 and 2007, a net that included balladeers, pop singers, R&B and heavy metal.

 

During the period under study, 71 of the musicians died, equivalent to seven per cent of the sample.

 

But there was no peak in deaths at the age of 27.

 

On the other hand, musicians in their 20s and 30s were two to three times more likely to die prematurely than the general British population.

 

"The 27 Club is unlikely to be a real phenomenon," says the paper.

 

"Fame may increase the risk of death among musicians, but this risk is not limited to age 27."

 

http://news.msn.co.nz/article.aspx?id=8393102