Amy Winehouse has joined Club 27.
Can't say I'm at all surprised.
Other members include: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and of course, blues legend Robert Johnson. All died at age 27, and none of them from natural causes–unless you consider that musicians hard-drinking, toking, shooting smack, playing with shotguns and getting poisoned by jealous husbands are natural ...
It may sound callous... but I find it hard to muster more than apathy for her. Or most of the other members of the Club. A little pity.
ReplyDeleteI've seen people with a lot less talent, and a lot less going for them pull themselves out of similar downward spirals.
Maybe I'm cold. But to me, most of the members of Club 27 were simply selfish. They cared more about their own moments than anyone else around them.
Sad to say it, but I think everyone saw this coming.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of some of the people on that list (at least, their work if not them personally) and I'm 100% with you Jim.
ReplyDeleteEven sadder, these people have tremendous resources for helping themselves compared to the average joe.
I don't think being an artist buys you a free pass. Same rules apply. But kids make a lot of foolish mistakes, across the board; it's lucky for most of us that we survived into real adulthood.
ReplyDeleteEver do anything that was potentially fatal because you really didn't think it was possible you could die?
When you haven't gotten fully-formed and all of a suddenly you are swimming in money and fame, the game isn't the same as it was when you were playing in the garage with your best buds.
When everybody says yes because they want to be next to you? When people hand you whichever drug is the latest and greatest as you arrive at the party?
When the groupies are lined up in the hall to do anything you like?
How many teens or twenty-somethings do you know who would resist all of those? Those would be the exceptions.
I'm not saying pity the millionaire rock star; I am saying that if you give a two-year-old power, there is going to be trouble. Without the emotional maturity to handle major adulation and a huge bank account, people tend to indulge themselves, and the results are usually not pretty.
If they are lucky, they survive. If not, they join the club. It's sad.