17. Janis Joplin
The “27 Club” is infamous in music. For some strange reason, many a star has died at only 27 years old such as Amy Winehouse and others. Joplin is among its most famous members and their most tragic. Her singing style was raw and unhinged, her rasp giving her vocals more power.
She made Big Brother and the Holding Company a major act, performing at Woodstock and part of the wave of counterculture sound of the late ‘60s. Sadly, Joplin was also hampered by addictions to heroin and drinking that cut into her health several times. On October 4, 1970, her manager became concerned of her missing a recording session and went to her hotel to find Joplin dead. The cause was a heroin overdose with rumors it was a bad cut of heroin. Coming just two weeks after the death of Jimi Hendrix, Joplin’s loss was an even bigger shock to the music industry and showing how the drug culture took far too many great talents away.
16. Jenni Rivera
While born in California, Rivera soon became one of the biggest stars in Mexico. She was hailed for breaking out among the male-dominated Banda music genre, her performances marked by her great dancing and showing off her body. But she had the stellar vocals to make it up, winning numerous awards to add to her fandom. A star of her own reality TV show, Rivera also took part in numerous charities and a broadcaster as well.
On December 9, 2012, Rivera was with her band flying from a concert in Mexico when the jet ran into complications. It was found crashed a day later, all on board killed instantly. Across Mexico and the Southwest U.S. million mourned the loss of Rivera with a park in Los Angeles named in her honor. She had completed work on the third season of her I Love Jenni show and it still aired with a new special remembering her. The legal issues over her death have been dirty, but that shouldn’t take away from this vibrant talent stolen so tragically.
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