Should 27 be considered a risk age ? The recent death of the singer Amy Winhouse at the age of 27 rekindled the idea of the so-called "Club of 27", made up of celebrities who have died for different reasons at that age (such as Brian Jones, co-founder of the Rolling Stones, the Nirvana soloist and composer Kurt Cobain, and even the Spanish singer Cecilia. To dismantle or confirm this "medical myth" , the British Medical Journal , in its special Christmas issue, publishes a study that analyzes the cases of musicians who had a number album in the UK between 1956 and 2007 (1,046 musicians).
The data reveals that the risk of death for famous musicians in their 20s and 30s was two to three times higher than for the rest of the UK population. The conclusion of the magazine is that fame can increase the risk of death among musicians, but that this risk is not limited to 27 years. One explanation, the authors suggest, could be that musicians tend to be famous after their twenties and have spikes in risk four or five years later. In any case, the "Club 27" is a myth , concludes the study, which nevertheless expresses concern about the increased risk of death between 20 and 30 years.
