Amy Winehouse Joins the 27 Club
Extremely sad news was released yesterday that Grammy winner Amy Winehouse was pronounced dead at her home in London. She was only 27 and much as I hate to say this, she has joined the infamous 27 club of great musicians that lost their lives at the young age. All clues are pointing to drugs for the reasoning behind her death, but regardless I hope that she rests in peace and people will respect her family’s privacy.
The Guitar God Jimi Hendrix
If you know me personally, you know that I love Jimi Hendrix and much of my guitar playing is influenced by him. Jimi, in my opinion, represent club 27 as he died in 1970 at the age of 27. I can only imagine the things he would have done had he stayed with us for another 20-30 years or more. He was a guitar god at 27 and many still see him as a legend of blues rock that will always be a guitar god. The second name that comes to mind is Kurt Cobain, the singer and guitarist of Nirvana. Other notable musicians are Janis Joplin, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, and Jim Morrison of the Doors. Having looked on Google and wikipedia, it’s surprising the number of musicians that have died at the age of 27. Here’s more info on wiki in regards to “club 27.”
What Life Means to You
At times like this, it really makes you think what life is and what it means to us. Do you live your life to its full potential? I wish I could say that I do, but I definitely don’t. If I were to die right now I’d have a lot of regrets and it’s an eye opener that someone that’s around my age won’t be able to do things she might have wanted to do tomorrow. We take only have one life and one chance to do whatever we like, and yet we take it for granted and often live a boring life. In that regard, the lives that Amy Winehouse or Jimi Hendrix lived are definitely not boring. They’ve reached heights most will never reach and also reached lows that most of us will not dare come close to. It’s probably why so many people do such stupid things on a regular basis because they just simply want to be different and try things that “normal” people wouldn’t even imagine doing.
It annoys some of us to watch, but it definitely makes life interesting. I was watching a TV show from Japan the other day and a former boxing champion was talking about how he was knocked out in the ring and rushed the hospital. His chance of survival at the time was 20% and he somehow survived and has lived healthy to this day and is actually a pretty famous actor in Japan now. Imagine having a life changing event like that and what it would do to you. Again, we take things in life for granted. Don’t you think you need to take a step back and get your priorities straight? I know I do.
Amy Winehouse photo/illustration by Lauriittaaaa on Flickr.
