Fame boosts the risk of early death for rock stars but the claim that the peril is greatest at the age of 27 is false, according to a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The theory of the “27 Club” spread earlier last year when Amy Winehouse joined Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Brian Jones and other musicians who succumbed to the rock’n’roll lifestyle while in their 27th year.
Health statisticians of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia put the “27 Club” hypothesis to the test. They compiled a data base of 1,046 musicians — solo artists and band members — who had a No.1 album in the British charts between 1956 and 2007.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透
During the period under study, 71 of the musicians died, equivalent to seven percent of the sample. But there was no peak at all in deaths at the age of 27. On the other hand, musicians in their 20s and 30s were two to three times likelier to die prematurely than the general British population.
The “27 Club” gained currency with Winehouse’s death in July, prompting the explanation that musicians often become famous in their early twenties, and their risk-taking peaks four to five years later.
A more insidious argument was that musicians craving immortality subconsciously became bigger risk-takers, or even committed suicide, in order to join rock’s dead elite.(AFP)
根據一項由《英國醫學期刊》所出版的研究顯示，名氣會增加搖滾明星早夭的風險，但所謂二十七歲死亡風險最高的說法，則純屬子虛烏有。
在去年英國歌手艾美‧懷絲加入吉姆‧莫里森、寇特‧柯本、布萊恩‧瓊斯及其他在二十七歲那年就死於搖滾樂生活方式的音樂人行列之後，「27俱樂部」的理論更加廣為流傳。
澳洲昆士蘭科技大學的衛生統計人員，就拿「27俱樂部」的假說進行試驗。他們建立了共一千零四十六位音樂人、包括個人與樂團成員在內的資料庫，這些音樂人都曾在一九五六年至二○○七年間得過英國專輯排行榜冠軍。
在研究的這段期間，只有七十一位樂手死亡，相當於樣本中的百分之七，但卻未顯示出二十七歲是死亡高峰期。但在另一方面，二十、三十歲的樂手早死機率，確實較英國一般人口高出兩到三倍。
隨著懷絲在七月間去世，「27俱樂部」的說法越來越盛行。最常見的一種解釋指稱，音樂人通常在二十出頭時成名，而他們的危險行為則常在四到五年後達到高峰。
另一種較陰謀論的主張則認為，潛意識裡渴求獲得不朽地位的音樂人更容易從事危險行為，或甚至自殺，以便加入搖滾樂的已故菁英行列。（法新社／翻譯：俞智敏）
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