27 Club: Musicians Who Died Young, But Live Forever

Still unchallenged as the greatest player to ever wield a guitar in rock history, Hendrix used his axe as an extension of his ever-expanding mind. Although he sent shockwaves through the 1960s with his Woodstock and Monterey Pop Festival performances, Hendrix only achieved one chart hit in his lifetime. Still, his electric styling set the dominant tone for rock music for the next 20 years. Hendrix suffocated on his own vomit after allegedly overdosing on sleeping pills in 1970.

The poet, the blues growler, the Lizard King, the drunkard: Jim Morrison is the first infamous figure in rock history. As the frontman of the Doors, Morrison lived hard and fast and left an indelible imprint on rock that's still felt today. After becoming dependent on drugs and alcohol, Morrison is assumed to have died of a heroin overdose in Paris, but since no autopsy was performed, his death remains shrouded in a thin veil of mystery.

Some singers are the voice of their generation, while others have a voice unequaled by anyone in their generation. Joplin was decidedly the latter. As the singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company, Kozmic Blues Band and the Full Tilt Boogie Band, Joplin had a still-unrivaled blues wail that came straight from her naked soul to audiences at Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festival. She was found dead of a heroin overdose in a hotel in California.

Occupying the overlapping space between glam, punk and leftist politics, the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers gathered a devoted fanbase in the 1980s before exploding in 1992 with their debut 'Generation Terrorists.' At their peak, the Manics' rhythm guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards suddenly disappeared in February of 1995 and was never conclusively seen again. Edwards was officially presumed long-dead in 2008.

Despite leaving behind a limited body of work, Robert Johnson persists as the most legendary and essential figure in blues. As a singer, songwriter and guitar player, he is cited as THE key inspiration for Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. Given he died in relative obscurity in 1938 (it wasn't until 1961 that his influence began to be fully appreciated), the cause of this enduring artist's death remains uncertain.

A pioneering protopunk bassist on the Stooges' first two albums, Dave Alexander was kicked out of rock's most notoriously unhinged bands for being too drunk to play at a music fest. He died of respiratory failure in Ann Arbor, MI, which was linked to his alcohol consumption.

The lead singer and primary songwriter of American blues band Canned Heat, Alan Wilson got his nickname due to extreme nearsightedness. (Canned Heat's drummer said he couldn't see more than two feet in front of him without his specs, which explains the look on consternation on his face in this photo.) Wilson's band delivered some of the seminal performances at Woodstock and Monterey Pop Festival, but sadly he died of an apparent drug overdose at age (you guessed it) 27.

A founding member of the self-proclaimed Greatest Band in Rock and Roll (who died before they started boasting that), multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones played on the Stones' records through 'Let It Bleed.' Original Stones bassist Bill Wyman described his import: "He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it. Highly intelligent [but] just kind of wasted it and blew it all away." Jones was asked to leave the band in 1969 after his substance abuse and problems with the law became problematic for the Stones' recording and touring schedule. Less than a month later, Jones drown in his swimming pool.

The melodic, weathered and astonishingly honest voice of his generation, Kurt Cobain changed the direction of rock with Nirvana's landmark 1991 album 'Nevermind.' Cobain struggled with success, depression and heroin addiction. He died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in April 1994 and was not discovered until several days later.

Although he was one of the founding members of the longest, strangest trip in rock and roll, Pigpen (a girlfriend gave him the nickname after the unkempt 'Peanuts' character) saw his trip end early when he suffered an intestinal hemorrhage in 1973. But as organ/harmonica player and percussionist for the Dead during perhaps their most fruitful years, McKernan's legend lives on.

As co-singer-songwriter on the first album from Big Star -- one of rock's most-influential yet least commercially-successful bands -- Chris Bell's heartbreaking lyricism left a continuing influence on generations of emotionally honest purveyors of pop. He died in a car accident in Memphis and his solo album 'I Am the Cosmos' was released posthumously.

Signed by the Beatles' artist-friendly Apple label in 1968, Welsh outfit Badfinger scored several hits as one of the pioneering power pop bands in the early 1970s. When Apple fell apart, Warner Bros. picked up Badfinger but the band was already embroiled in financial and managerial problems. Frontman Pete Ham hanged himself in 1975 and left a note reading, "I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better."

Possessing an unmatched voice that brought 1960s soul back to the American and British charts, Amy Winehouse was motivated by a palpable lust for life. Unfortunately, she was also fueled by a dangerously intense diet of alcohol and drugs that she struggled with throughout her brief, stunning career. Although she reportedly cleaned up her drug habit toward the end of her life, Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011.