I got all this information from websites and one book. If this was a term paper, I'd be expelled for plagiarism! But it's not a term paper, so here's the nitty gritty without proper documentation.

I'm sure most rock music fans have heard of this phenomenon. I believe I first heard about it on some television special on VH1. There was a weird occurrence of many famous rock star musicians dying at the age of 27. Some of these include the most famous rockers like Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis "Pearl" Joplin, Jim "The Lizard King" Morrison, and Kurt Cobain. However, the origins of the 27 Club actually go back further than you might think. Most of you might say of the 27 Club, "It's only a coincidence. Many people die at the age of 27 all over the world." To that, Cobain and Hendrix biographer Charles R. Cross wrote, "The number of musicians who passed away at 27 is truly remarkable by any standard. Humans die regularly at all ages, [but] there is a statistical spike for musicians who die at 27."

What would you say if I told you that the first member of the 27 Club was initiated in 1938? Here's some comments made regarding this "founder" by writers and famous musicians of our time (and our parents' time).

The Founding Member of The 27 Club

Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including

Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Jack White and Eric Clapton

, who called [him] "the most important blues singer that ever lived".

When Keith Richards was first introduced to [his] music by his band mate

Brian Jones

, he replied, "Who is the other guy playing with him?", not realizing it was all only him playing on one guitar.

Clapton described [his] music as "the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice."

Eric Clapton, a frequent proclaimant of the immeasurable significance of [him] to all music stemming from his generation, admits he "did not take to him immediately... He frightened me."

"[Him], to whom we all owed our existence, in some way."—

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin

, on NPR's Fresh Air, recorded in 2004.

[He] is an enigma and an amalgam elevated by white rockers to the pantheon as a mysterious folkloric hero. When alive, [he] was never the King of The Delta—just a talented minstrel—but his influence makes him the grandfather of rock.

An assorted collection of artists who have covered the songs of [him] include (in no particular order)

The Rolling Stones, Canned Heat, Cream, the Blues Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ry Cooder, Eric Clapton, Cowboy Junkies, John Hammond, Peter Green, Cassandra Wilson, the Radiators, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Freddie King, Elmore James, Asylum Street Spankers, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Keb ‘Mo’, Walter Trout Band, Lucinda Williams, Rocky Lawrence, Rory Block, Pyeng Threadgill, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Chris Thomas King, the Jeff Healy Band, Pussy Galore, White Stripes, Foghat, Status Quo, Johnny Shines, Roy Rogers, Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Grateful Dead

, and Widespread Panic.

Recorded very famous and influential set of 29 songs that influenced many famous musicians after him. yet his music helped father rock & roll.

Rosedale did figure in the lyrics for one of Johnson’s most famous songs, "Traveling Riverside Blues". "Lord, I’m goin’ to Rosedale," he wails, "gon’ take my rider by my side." "Traveling Riverside Blues" had a huge influence on rock-n-roll, and was remade as "Crossroads" by Eric Clapton — which mentions Rosedale with the same phrase [he] uses. It was also covered by Led Zeppelin (whose more well-known "Lemon Song" famously steals a lyric from that same tune of [his]: "You can squeeze my lemon ’til the juice runs down my leg").

Here is the haunting origin of rock music...

The guy all these men are talking about is (the [his] and [he] of the text above) Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson was an African-American bluesman. He was born and raised in Hazlehurst, MS and Memphis, TN. He tried to mimic a popular musician in his town, but failed at it because he simply was not born with a musical skill on the guitar. He really wanted to be famous and good at playing the guitar like his role model Son House, and he says "someone" answered that request. Maybe some of you have seen "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" with George Clooney where the African-American character Tommy Johnson sells his soul to the devil for musical prowess because he said, "I wasn't using it". He was representing this Robert Johnson. "

Late in life, Son House remembered Johnson as a boy who had followed him around and tried very unsuccessfully to copy him. He then left the Robbinsonville area, but later reappeared after a few months with a miraculous guitar technique. His boast is entirely credible."

"Robert Johnson sounded primal, sang with lived passion about dark meetings at crossroads, love in vain and hellhounds on his trail, and died from poisoning under strange circumstances. The legend went that Johnson, not blessed with guitar talent when he first began playing professionally, yearned for overnight success that would put him in league with the other guitarists on the circuit. One night, he heard a voice that told him to visit the crossroads by Dockery's plantation at midnight. There, he was met by a large black man who apparently was the devil in disguise. The big man took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it, and returned it to him."

"Johnson was giving mastery of the guitar and the devil gave him back his guitar in return for his soul. In exchange Robert Johnson became able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard.

"Johnson's improvement on his instrument was swift and amazing (although historically, it took him about a year to become great). He earned the instant recognition of big name guitarists like Son House, who championed his cause. However, Johnson was tormented in his dreams by visions of the devil, and hellhounds on his trail. In his waking hours, Johnson played the role of bluesman hero, chasing women, drinking, behaving arrogantly. In 1938, during a show, he was poisoned (possibly by a jealous husband of a woman he had been putting moves on). The poison had him foaming at the mouth and talking babble, he died within days.

He wrote songs about his experience with the devil with such titles as "Hell Hound On My Trail" (utilizes another common theme: fear of the devil). Six of Johnson's blues songs mention the

devil

or some form of the supernatural. In "Me And The Devil" he began, "Early this morning when you knocked upon my door/Early this morning, umb, when you knocked upon my door/And I said, 'Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go,'" before leading into "You may bury my body down by the highway side/You may bury my body, uumh, down by the highway side/So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride."

His last words were 'I pray that my redeemer will come and take me from my grave.' He died at age 27.

"The Blues has always been the Devil's music. Music that glorified drinking, womanizing, gambling, dope, violence, and depravity, blues was an easy target for ministers and pastors of the South, who countered with sermons forbidding the congregation to listen to it. Many god-fearing churchgoers heeded this message, establishing Gospel as the safer alternative. Even some bluesmen were convinced; legendary blues picker Gary Davis usually refused to play blues after he was ordained as a reverend in 1937. Ultimately, he relented just before his death and recorded a historic session of blues (secular and gospel) in 1971. He died soon after."

The Most Popular Members

Here are the most popular five members of the 27 Club a.k.a Forever 27.

Jimi Hendrix was pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for

The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys. The day of Hendrix’ arrival, his guitantics wowed members of Britain’s musical cognoscenti and he found himself a girlfriend who had previously dated Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones and Keith Moon of the Who. Eric Burdon of the Animals who was present that night recalled later that, "It was haunting how good he was." Jimi Hendrix’ performances became erratic during the last two years of his life. He complained that fans came to hear his early hits and watch him play guitar with his teeth. While vacationing in Morocco, most likely the only vacation of his life, an old fortune-teller with a Tarot deck drew the Death card. The card could also mean rebirth, but Jimi freaked out. A few weeks before his death, he told a Danish journalist, "I’m not sure I will live to be 28 years old.

I mean, the moment I feel I have nothing more to give musically, I will not be around on this planet anymore." Jimi Hendrix died from asphyxiation on vomit after overdose of sleeping pills.

Jim Morrison was poet, lead singer, songwriter and video director for

The Doors. Jim was lauded as a mysterious Greek god. The official cause of death was heart failure. Morrison apparently did heroin the night of his death, and there are several conspiracy theories surrounding his death (i.e. did he really OD in the bathroom at the Rock & Roll Circus?). Jim Morrison's official cause of death was listed as "heart failure" but since no autopsy was performed, the actual cause remains mysterious

. It is said it was probably heroin overdose.

Brian Jones was

Rolling Stones founder and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. He died from drowning in a swimming pool. Brian was true rock royalty and in the early days, the only bad Rolling Stone. Jones picked up an acoustic guitar and became infatuated with rural bluesmen such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightning Hopkins, Ledbelly Leadbetter—and the mysterious Robert Johnson

.

Kurt Cobain was lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for

Nirvana. April 8, 1994, an electrician found Kurt Cobain with a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. According to the coroner’s report, Cobain died April 5, 1994. He was 27 years old. For those interested in learning more about the conspiracy theories surrounding Kurt Cobain’s death, be sure to read Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain. Kurt's sister said that as a kid, Kurt talked about how he wanted to join the 27 Club.

And unfortunatey he did join by suicide.

Janis Joplin was lead vocalist and songwriter for

Big Brother and the Holding Company

, The Kozmic Blues Band, and Full Tilt Boogie Band. Janis Joplin was said to have died of a heroin overdose.

There are some disagreements about the criteria of who should be included in the Club. Some say only these five above-mentioned people are in the club. The Club was started when people noticed an unusual number of prominent musicians within a ten-month period. Jimi, Janis, and Jim died within a 10-month span of time. Jim and Brian

died on the same date two years apart. Kurt Cobain was included perhaps due to his fame and his death occurring at the height of his career. Either way, in the height of their rock careers, their young lives were snatched from them in ugly ways. There are more musicians that died at age 27 that I will list at the bottom.

Did They Sign Demonic Contracts for Fame, Fortune, and Skill?

This next paragraph is from a woman claims to know part of the answer to the mystery surrounding the 27 Club.

This woman did not want to share her name, but we'll refer to her as Lisa. Lisa used to practice Satanism. She said rock music was a carefully devised and executed plan of the devil. When Lisa became a high priestess (a high rank in satanism), she got to meet the famous rock stars of that time. She said they had all signed a contract to the devil for fame and fortune in rock. Lisa said that these rocks stars are teaching untold millions of youth to worship and serve Satan knowingly and unknowingly. She had attended special ceremonies at various recording studios throughout the U.S. for the specific purpose of placing satanic "blessings" on the rock music recorded. She and others did incantations (satanic "prayers" or curses) which placed demons on EVERY record and tape of rock music sold. At times they also called up special demons who spoke on the recordings - especially in the various backmasked messages. Also, in many, many of the recordings, the satanists themselves were recorded in the background (masked by the over-all noise of the music) doing chants and incantations to summon up more demons every time one of the records or tapes or videos is played by the purchaser. As the music is played, these demons are called into the room to afflict the person playing the music and anyone else who is listening. To all the rock fans, she recommends that you read the book The Devil's Disciples - The Truth About Rock by Jeff Godwin.

If this is true, I always wondered if these people died at that age because their contracts with the devil ended at that age. He gave them what they wanted -- skill, fame, and fortune -- and then time was up. Even the famous ones who didn't die at that age might have signed contracts, according to her. She actually said all famous rock stars at her time (around the 70s and 80s) signed contracts for fame and fortune and perhaps more talent. I wondered if this was true about other rockers. There are many who are said to worship satan liked Kiss, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Venom, King Diamond, etc. etc. However, many of them are past the age of 27. How do they decide which ones get to die at age 27 and which ones get to live on?

3 6/Triple 6/666 Mafia

I even heard that 3 6 Mafia a.k.a. Triple 6 Mafia are involved in satan worship. I'll admit they used to be one of my favorite rap groups if not my most favorite of rap groups because I was raised in Memphis at the time of some of their most popular records. I even met one of them. But I had to stop listening to them because when I did, I'd find myself feeling violent, bad, sexual and such. Look at how famous they have gotten! Imagine them with a Grammy. I listened to one of their songs slowed down, and you could hear them saying strange things in the background and in the chorus. I don't know for sure what it could have been, but I did begin to wonder when I heard this next statement. I heard that the man with the one short arm in the group (Project Pat?) was mad at God because God made him with a abnormal arm so he decided to serve Satan. I don't know how true that is though, but here are some names of the songs: Pimpin' and Robbin', We Shootin' 1st, 44 Killers, Two-Way Freak, D*** Suckin Hoes, Dis B****, That Hoe, Tongue Ring, Weak A B****, Sippin' on Some Sizzurp, and "They Don't F*** Wit' Us. I remember when my sisters and I would play this music in high school and college, and we and other teens and colleagues would almost lose our minds! It felt like something raising up inside of you, and we would act a fool when hearing this music! So many fights would break out to their songs. What was I thinking being a preacher's kid listening to a group called Triple 6 or 3 6 Mafia? 666! There's no other way those numbers would make sense! But I was not cautious, and I fell for it.

Here are some of the other members of the 27 Club. I have never even heard of these people, but some of the group names sound familiar to me. I'm sure you rock fans know these people. Some are not even involved in rock or blues. These people could have just died because it was their time to go, but they were listed on either Wikipedia, the 27 Club official website, and another website talking about a book written on the 27 Club.  Here are 32 more members.

1. Jesse Belvin. February 6, 1960. Car wreck. R&B singer and songwriter.

Malcolm Hale. October 31, 1968. Carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty space heater. Original member of Spanky and Our Gang. Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson. September 7, 1970. Barbiturate overdose, possible suicide. Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat. Struggling with chronic depression, Alan Wilson overdosed in Bear's backyard on the eve of departure for a German festival that also marked one of Jimi Hendrix's last performances. Linda Jones. March 14, 1972. Diabetic coma. R&B singer. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. March 8, 1973. Gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with alcoholism. Founding member and keyboardist of the Grateful Dead. In 1966, he had a summer fling with Janis Joplin and introduced her to Southern Comfort, which soon became her signature booze of choice. Grateful Dead had long, strange trip continued with psychedelic jams. Dave Alexander. February 10, 1975. Pulmonary edema. Bassist for the Stooges. Pete Ham. April 24, 1975. Suicide by hanging. Keyboardist and guitarist, leader of Badfinger. He hanged himself in his studio and his suicide note blamed Stan Polley for his death. Gary Thain. December 8, 1975. Drug overdose. Former bassist of Uriah Heep. He played in a jazz-rock trio called New Nadir, and Jimi Hendrix got up on stage with them one night at the Speakeasy. Gary Thain was electrocuted while on stage in 1974, blacked out and suffered severe burns. The band cancelled the rest of the tour. Gary never fully recovered and was asked to leave the band shortly thereafter. A few months later his girlfriend found him dead in the bathtub. Helmut Köllen. May 3, 1977. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Bassist with 1970s German prog rock band Triumvirat. Whether his death in 1977 was a suicide or an accident is anyone’s guess. He died in his car from monoxide poisoning while listening to a demo tape of his songs with the garage door closed. Chris Bell. December 27, 1978. Car wreck; ran into a telephone pole. Singer-songwriter and guitarist of power pop band Big Star and solo. Fuelled by his fascination with the Beatles, Chris Bell wanted the two to become a song writing team like Lennon/McCartney. Bell worked on a solo album that wasn't released until 14 years after his death and became a born-again Christian, preaching the power of the Lord to friends if they wanted to listen. Chris Bell accidentally crashed his car while driving home early one morning and died on impact. D. Boon. December 22, 1985. Lying down in the back of a van when it veered off road, he was ejected from the vehicle and broke his neck. Guitarist, lead singer of punk band the Minutemen. The lyrics were at times enigmatic, but political in a radical and/or blue collar way. Jean-Michel Basquiat. August 12, 1988. Speedball overdose. Painter and graffiti artist; formed the band Gray. Pete de Freitas. June 14, 1989. Motorcycle wreck on his way back from filming a music video. Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen. He consumed vast quantities of LSD, molly, cocaine, and booze while pretending to create music with his new band The Sex Gods. Instead of creation it was a macabre display of destruction. De Freitas totaled two cars, two motorcycles, and nearly himself. He stayed manically awake for eighteen days straight. Mia Zapata. July 7, 1993. Raped and Murdered. Lead singer of the Gits. She was a good friend of Kurt Cobain. Kristen Pfaff. June 16, 1994. Heroin overdose. Bass guitarist for Hole and Janitor Joe. Richey Edwards c. February 1, 1995. Disappeared; officially presumed dead November 23, 2008. Lyricist and guitarist for Manic Street Preachers. Richey was interred at the Priory, the same mental institution that Brian Jones had stayed at in 1967. Fat Pat. February 3, 1998. Shot. Rapper and member of Screwed Up Click. Freaky Tah. March 28, 1999. Shot. Popular rapper and member the rap group Lost Boyz. The Lost Boyz appropriated its name from The Lost Boys (a teenage vampire movie that featured Echo & the Bunnymen’s version of The Doors' "People Are Strange" on the soundtrack). Sean Patrick McCabe. August 28, 2000. Asphyxiated on vomit after ingesting too much alcohol. Lead singer of Ink & Dagger. Philadelphia’s Ink & Dagger was an unusual hardcore band. Over the course of its career, the band played a hypnotic fusion of aggro punk riffs and noisy techno. Ink & Dagger dented the indie circuit with this sonic stew coupled with, at least in the beginning, a dramatic vampire theme that Vampire Weekend picked up on brought fame a few years later. "Sean McCabe was an unexplainable force," Robby says, " One of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known and also one of the craziest." Jeremy Michael Ward. May 25, 2003. Heroin overdose. The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator. Bryan Ottoson. April 19, 2005. Prescription drug overdose. Guitarist for American Head Charge. Bryan Ottoson’s "333" tattoo on the back of his neck represented the synchronicity of his life’s events that seemingly happened in threes. He said he looked at the time every day at 3:33 p.m. and 3:33 a.m. inexplicably and without fail. Bryan died almost three years to the date after he joined the band. But the significance of threes didn’t end with Ottoson’s death. Brian Ottoson was 27 when he died (a factor of three) and the band cancelled three shows following his death. Valentín Elizalde. November 25, 2006. Gunned down in an ambush. Popular Mexican banda music singer. Levi Kereama. October 4, 2008. Fell from a hotel window. Suspected suicide. Australian Idol contestant, and lead singer for band Lethbridge. Roger Lee Durham Wallace Yohn Dave Michael Alexander ("Zander"). Inspired by Jim Morrison, Iggy took stage antics to unprecedented levels, smearing peanut butter on his chest, cutting his arms with shards of glass, and pioneering the art of stage diving. Valentin Elizalde ("The Golden Rooster"). Elizalde was ambushed and murdered along with his manager and driver after performing at a fair. Maria Serrano-Serrano Louis Chauvin ("Bird Face"). March 26, 1908. The cause of death was complications from syphilis. Alexandre Levy. January 17, 1892. Brazilian composer. He spent most of his life in São Paulo where he pioneered a fusion of classical composition with Brazil’s popular folk music and rhythms. Nat Jaffe. August 5, 1945. After a childhood spent in Germany, pianist Nat Jaffe became part of the NYC jazz scene. In addition to heading his own bands, Jaffe recorded with Joe Marsala, Louis Armstrong (1938), Jack Teagarden (1939-40), Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan (1945). Arlester Christian of Dyke and the Blazers Subliminal Messages

"You know what you get when you play Twisted Sister's 'Burn in Hell' backwards? 'Go to church and pray on Sunday.' " Jay Leno, Comedian

I'm sure everyone is not familiar with subliminal messages. This is one way that rockers are said to get satanic messages through to impressionable and unexpecting minds. An example of a way this is done can be found at movie theatres. While you are waiting for the previews to end and the movie to begin, they may flash "Drink Coke" or "Eat Popcorn" for mere milliseconds. It'll be too quickly for you to know consciously, but your subconscious mind will see it, and pretty soon, you'll feel hungry for popcorn and thirsty for Coca-Cola. And it all happens without you even being aware on a conscious level even though your brain clearly got the message.

Well it has been suspected and said that when satanists "bless" rock music, they put subliminal messages in there saying, "Your parents are stupid. Commit suicide. F*** the police. Do drugs. Have sex." This is what some teens who listen to rock music tend to do. People believe that many teens start a descent after listening to rock music because of these messages. I used to like System of a Down, but as weird as they are and as quick-talking as the lead singer is, I don't know what in the world they could have been talking about at a conscious level OR subliminally!

"Some people believe that these subliminal message are not consciously heard by the listener. They further believe that repeat playings can influence their thinking and lead them to uncritically accept Satanic or Occultic beliefs. They view subliminal messages as a form of brainwashing."

"You can reach your own conclusion. Among the most famous example is a passage from "Stairway to Heaven." If you have a player that can handle the .wav format, listen to the passage forwards and backwards. Some claim that, played backwards, they can make out the sentence: "I will sing because I live with Satan"."

In 1990, Judas Priest, a rock band, was on trial for allegedly placing a subliminal instruction "Do it" in one of their songs. They were accused of triggering the suicide of Ray Belknap and the attempted suicide of James Vance.

Some messages are purely intentionally like the following:

"The music is reversible but Time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back." Electric Light Orchestra, "Face the Music" at the start of the song "Fire on High."

"Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old pink, care of the funny farm." Pink Floyd, "Empty Spaces," at the end of "Good-bye Blue Sky."

"Messin' with things you don't understand," Iron Maiden, "Piece of Mind" at the start of "Still Life."

From what I get from "The music is reversible but Time is not", they are saying that you can listen to the music either forwards or backwards, and it will get a message sent out both ways. And whatever you do as a result of the music can't be undone. That's just my personal interpretation, but I could be wrong. Why would someone put hidden, secretive music in their music? What's there to hide?

Here's the information, and it's up for you to decide. Many Christian churches preach against rock music for obvious reasons, but what about the undercover and subliminal reasons? How do you tend to feel and think after listening to some rock music? Do you really know everything that they are saying in the background? All I know for sure is, there is no amount of fame or fortune or skill that would make me sell my soul!

Mark 8:36-37 - "

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"