All music fans were saddened to here of Amy Winehouse’s death on 23 July 2011, but as her birthday was 14 September 1983 her death took on a further significance than just the tragic passing of a young person.
She joined an elite group of musicians, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of The Doors and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. All credited with changing music, all dying at the age of 27.
Undoubtedly her lifestyle and her musical success will keep her in this fabled company, but the slightly macabre question to ask is does she deserve it?
An Ivor Novello Award, five Grammy’s, three MTV Video Music Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, three World Music Awards, a Mercury Prize, a MOBO Award and a number one album in the UK would suggest she does.
This is far more commercial success than Jeff Buckley ever managed and if he had been 27, rather than drowning in Tennessee at the age of 30, this article would never have been written about him.
The issue here is Amy Winehouse is joining auspicious company and despite her fame and success her fellow 27 Club members were not just famous musicians, they changed the face of music forever.
Without Brian Jones there probably would never have been The Rolling Stones. It may have been Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who ended up with the credit, but it was Jones who started the band and was its driving force.
How different would the world be if this had not happened, one of the first British bands to foray into the African American world of Rhythm and Blues?
There is little to be said about Jimi Hendrix already not said. This man changed the way people viewed the electric guitar, his performance at Monetary and Woodstock are the stuff of legend.
Would any music fan want to even think about a world without Hendrix’s wailing guitar and the revolution he created in the playing of the instrument?
Janis Joplin was called the queen of rock and roll at a time when the liberation of women was at a peak.
Her life has taken on both a musical and a feminist significance which would be impossible to replace.
The brooding lyrics and melodies of The Doors created what is regarded as one of the greatest front men of all time in Jim Morrison.
It may be The Doors people remember, rather than Morrison himself, but the man has come to define a period in American history along with Hendrix.
For many younger readers it may be Kurt Cobain who holds the most significance, creating a musical revolution out the angst people felt following the 1980s.
Not only did Nirvana jump start the musical career of Dave Grohl, but the music, image and lifestyle of the grunge scene led to the mini music revolution of the 1990s and the early years of the new millennium.
Reading this you start to get the impression these five people were slightly more important to the progression of music as a whole than Winehouse will ever achieve. This is not to say there are not similarities.
The lifestyle choice to begin with is certainly similar over the entire group. The drug binges of Jones, Hendrix and Morrison are what could be called very rock and roll, Cobain was a noted heroin addict and Joplin’s death was always presumed to be a heroin overdoes.
Along with fellow bad-boy of rock, The Libertines Pete Doherty, her party antics have been noted for years often making more front page news than Doherty’s due to her commercial success.
The live fast die young attitude has long been a feature of rock music and in this respect Winehouse is certainly in good company.
Contrary to some people’s opinion, the younger public’s adoration of these people is not about drugs or a desire for the lifestyle, it is an appreciation for their music and a moment they speak to.
The commercial and critical success would certainly suggest she spoke to a moment and her musical and fashion style has certainly had influence.
Her look and the jazz styling of her first album, Frank, was certainly an appreciated change of pace from the generic female fronted pop being produced both in the US and UK.
Back to Black ditched the Jazz and took influence from one of the greatest eras in female fronted music, the 60s and 70s. Comparable to Joplin, maybe not, but credit where credit is due.
However, there are certainly many issues with this. Her music, unlike Hendrix and Cobain, was not revolutionary, it had kind of been done before. It was good and her voice extraordinary, but it had been done.
Drink and drugs seemed to become her entire world and she appeared like a mate who you know cannot look after themselves when they have had a few.
Addiction also led her to commit the greatest sin a musician can, they affected her live performance and musical talent.
Since the release of Back to Black media outlets have almost been awash with reports of her turning up late, not turning up at all and being booed for her not being able to sing.
Once she even disappeared during a show leaving her backup singers to complete the set.
Although it would be hypocritical to say the other members of the 27 Club did not let the drink and drugs affect them musically, Morrison certainly was noted for poor onstage behaviour, but is it really the same?
It is fair to say Winehouse never got arrested for indecent exposure on stage, something which Morrison certainly cannot claim to have avoided.
There is still something lurking, suggesting her inevitable inclusion in this band of legends is somehow unjustified, and her inclusion is inevitable.
It is impossible to live a life the way she lived her life and not be. Jeff Buckley (30), Tupac Skakur (25) and Keith Moon of The Who (33) all have honorary inclusion so how can she not have it legitimately.
The question here is not of whether or not she is a member of the Forever 27, but whether or not it is somehow unjust she be elevated to a pedestal of rock music martyrdom with these stars.
Ask yourself one question. Does the Winehouse brand belong side-by-side with the likes of Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and Cobain in terms of a long lasting musical influence, influences that have and will continue to be the driving force behind every new artist and musician to come?
