These rockers missed the infamous “27 Club” of rock stars by 20 years, but still died young.
Many iconic rock stars are members of an exclusive and infamous group: The 27 Club. It is a dubious distinction, one that signifies a tragically young end to a life and brilliant career. Every musician in the “27 Club” — including Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse — died three years before their 30th birthday.
When Warrant frontman Jani Lane died in 2011, he was decades past eligibility for membership in the 27 Club. But Lane, known for writing and singing such pop metal hits as “Heaven,” “Cherry Pie,” and “Down Boys,” was still quite young, just 47 at the time of his death.
Like Lane, the following rock musicians were too young to die, yet too old to qualify for the 27 Club. They weren’t famous but their passion for rock ‘n’ roll is evident in the obituaries published by their families in local newspapers.
Dena Marie Sparks of Roanoke, Virginia, was a singer with local blues and rock bands. Like Lane, Sparks was 47 when she died, but her style echoed that of a 27 Club member. Her obituary notes that she was “often compared to Janis Joplin, who happened to be one of her favorites.”
The obituary for Richard Stephen Solis, of Hammond, Louisiana, describes him as “a very accomplished Heavy Metal guitarist whose passion for shredding could never be contained.” He too died at age 47.
Mark Christopher Fortin was 42 when he died July 25, 2011. Fortin “played in several rock bands in southern Maine, where he spent many happy hours performing with friends.”
Linda Holler helped people find answers to life’s greatest questions “during counseling sessions, during Tarot card readings, or over coffee at the kitchen table,” and was like “a second mother” to many of her children’s friends. The 59-year-old singer was also “the coolest mom in Edison (New Jersey),” thanks to the fact that she sang in a rock band.
This post was contributed by Alana Baranick, a freelance obituary writer. She was the director of the Society of Professional Obituary Writers and chief author of Life on the Death Beat: A Handbook for Obituary Writers before she passed away in 2015.
