"The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club or Club 27, is a name for a group of influential rock music artists who died at the age of 27. The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon. The impetus for the club's creation were the deaths of Brian Jones, Jim Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994, was later added by some. With the exception of Joplin, there is controversy surrounding their deaths. According to the book Heavier Than Heaven, when Cobain died, his sister claimed that as a kid he would talk about how he wanted to join the 27 Club. On the fifteenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, National Public Radio's Robert Smith said, "The deaths of these rock stars at the age of 27 really changed the way we look at rock music." [Wikipedia]

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dave Alexander of the Stooges, Pete de Freitas of Echo & the Bunnymen, Sean Patrick McCabe of Ink & Dagger, Kristen Pfaff of Hole, Mia Zapata, D. Boon of the Minutemen, and other notable musicians have also passed away at 27.

Bradford Cox opening for Stereolab Thursday (more by Ryan Muir)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Jimmy Scott @ Iridum
* Taj Majal @ BB King's
* Madonna @ the Izod Center
* Hot Chip @ Terminal 5
* Jenny Lewis at The Apollo Theatre
* Fleet Foxes @ Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
* Common, N.E.R.D. @ Roseland Ballroom
* Children, Pissed Jeans @ Glasslands
* The Kills, The Postelles @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds @ Theater at Madison Square Garden
* Extra Life, Drunkdriver, Dan Friel @ Less Artists More Condos
* Drums of Death, Hot Chip (DJ Set) @ (le) poisson rouge
* Glasvegas, Angela McClusky, Wild Light @ Mercury Lounge
* Tyvek, Cause co-MOTION!, Crystal Stilts @ Death By Audio
* Dark Meat, Stars Like Fleas, Fertile Crescent, PoPo @ Market Hotel
* Motel Motel, The Go Station, Intermissions, Tropic of Nelson @ Union Hall
* Stereolab, Monade w/ Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Le Loup @ at Irving Plaza
* Shudder To Think, The Jealous Girlfriends, Pattern is Movement @ Webster Hall

Janis Joplin died today in 1970. She was only 27.

Happy World Animal Day!

What else?

"Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the psychedelic music scene that also produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane." [Wikipedia]

Janis was in the band from April 1966 until "near the end" of 1968. The current incarnation of the band started up again in 1987, features 2-3 original members (depending on your definition of original), and they're playing at Knitting Factory in NYC tonight (Jan 2, 2008). All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Janis Joplin was in Big Brother and the Holding Company"