Ever think about how many amazingly gifted musicians seem to die young -- say, at age 27?
Kurt Cobain (who died 15 years ago this week), Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, blues pioneer Robert Johnson -- all dead at 27. There's also Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, the Grateful Dead's Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Pete Ham of Badfinger and Hole's Kristen Pfaff.
What is it about 27? Perhaps it's that many of these musicians -- whether they lived with destructive life habits or not -- seemed lost in their last year.
"It also happens right around that time in your life where most people go from the stage of youth to the stage of maturity," author Eric Segalstad told NPR. He's co-written a book, "The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll," about more than 20 of the 27s.
"It's probably difficult once you've hit that age if you've been part of this game for a little while and you either feel invincible or frustrated, or maybe even both. How do you top yourself? ... Where do you go from there without becoming idiosyncratic?"
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