27 Club

Charlamagne Tha God. Wendy Williams. Robin Quivers. The names are familiar, but the stories of their trials and triumphs in the radio industry may not be. Amplify Color reveals the empowering and inspirational stories of individuals who left an undeniable impact on the radio industry despite the challenges and battles they faced. Each week, host Ryan Cameron chronicles the history of Black radio through the story of a trailblazer w...

Ron “Pigpen” McKernan’s lifelong devotion to drinking wasn’t the cause of his medical issues – chalk those up to a genetic disease. But no matter how he tried, Pig couldn’t kick the illness, he couldn’t repair the damage that had been done. He played music, followed his diet, and hoped against all hope that something would turn around. But nothing ever really did. He could never quite get up that hill. And just as Pig had slowly de...

Against doctor’s orders, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan hit the road one more time with the Grateful Dead. The band’s 1972 tour of Europe is legendary. But at the time, Pigpen was just trying to stay above ground. You could hear it in his voice when he took the mic onstage. Close your eyes and his voice was a window into the past. But listen closer, and you’d hear something else. Something you couldn’t quite put your finger on. A distance. ...

A dark cloud of death hung over the Grateful Dead as they went into the studio to make what is arguably their masterpiece, American Beauty. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones…they were all gone. All dead at the age of 27. But time didn’t stop. Time marched on. The cold hands of death could close in on any of them. But who? When would they go? And how would they go?

Busted down on Bourbon Street. Fleeced by a member of the family. Plastered on a runaway train barreling through the Canadian countryside. As the Grateful Dead faced a number of new challenges and detours, their music moved steadily ahead on solid footing – evidenced by the back-to-basics songs that made up Workingman’s Dead, their best album in years.

Though Ron “Pigpen” McKernan continued to feel like he was being pushed out of the Grateful Dead’s creative circle, he could still make an impression. Just ask Led Zeppelin, who got an up-close and personal look at Pig’s .22-caliber pistol. The fear that they felt standing next to what seemed like, to them, to be an American cowboy in the flesh was dwarfed months later…by the fear and violence that ran rampant at the Altamont Speed...

As Haight-Ashbury devolved from a counterculture mecca to a commodified tourist haven, and the Grateful Dead searched for the perfect sound to complement their continued evolution, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan found that his musical contributions were becoming obsolete. It wasn't long before he had to face the fact that the he was finally losing control of the group he had created.

As the Grateful Dead’s star continued to rise, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan felt he would rather be a dark star, invisible to the world. But he couldn’t hide. Not from the throngs of fans. And not from the San Francisco Police Department. Maybe they saw Pig’s leather vest and cowboy hat and figured he was an outlaw. Or maybe they just wanted to outlaw his type and the whole freaky scene along with him. And they tried to do just that in th...

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan wonders if he's the only person not tripping inside a warehouse in the burned-out Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where the Grateful Dead are soundtracking yet another acid test. He further wonders if he's the only one who recognizes the gravity of the situation when the LAPD burst in. Later, he falls hard for a likeminded blues lover who turns on her lovelight. But not before he falls into a pit of despair...

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan could already feel his influence in the band waning from early on. Even back when the Grateful Dead were still known as the Warlocks. Whereas Pig subsisted on raw power fueled by alcohol and blues music, the rest of the members of the band were functioning on a completely different level. They listened to music, talked literature, and explored the cosmos...while loaded to the gills on LSD. Pig did not partake....

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan was the primary figure and driving force at the core of the Grateful Dead's origin story. He was an old soul, a digger of deep moods, a devotee of biker chic, and a tireless student of the blues. His devotion to classic Americana kept the band grounded even when they found themselves lost in experimental improvisation. But as the Dead evolved and became more famous, Pigpen became more of an outlier. While the ...

Get ready for Season 5 of the 27 Club to take the strange and not-so-long trip of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, a founding member of the Grateful Dead. Pigpen wasn't just a member of the Dead. He was the Dead. But just like Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones or Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd, Pigpen felt his role in the Grateful Dead shrink as the rest of the band members expanded their minds and their sound. The story of Pigpen is about a...

When Amy Winehouse died on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27, the world mourned. For many, the grim reality was far from surprising. What was surprising, however, was what happened next. Sordid stories were told about her last night that contradicted the accepted narrative. An autopsy was called into question. And years down the line, there was a contested attempt to bring not just her music but her likeness back to life.

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Five years had passed since her last album. Her ex-husband was facing jail time for burglary. But Amy Winehouse chose to focus on the positive. She may not have been entirely sober, but she was no longer using. She had found a new person to love, and one who loved her. And then...the bottom dropped out.

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One of Amy Winehouse’s final collaborators was Tony Bennett, who, unbeknownst to her, had his own stories to tell about struggling with addiction and fear. But no one, not even Tony Bennett, could help Amy Winehouse. A concert in Serbia became a new low point. Hallucinations and paranoia turned reality into a nightmare. And there wasn’t one tabloid, blog, or social media platform that wasn’t there to capture it all – every last sli...

Amy Winehouse wasn’t sure exactly what she was getting into when she accepted a £1million offer to play a private show for an anonymous Russian oligarch. Even more concerning was the uncertainty that lay ahead. After she squandered an opportunity to collaborate with a living legend and tried to burn the bridge of one of her most steadfast musical partners, Amy faced a crossroads. The two paths were clear. One was brightly lit; the ...

Amy Winehouse gravitated towards trouble like a moth to a flame. She hung out with the libertines of London’s seedy society, which regularly left her life in shambles. A multi-day drug binge left her on death’s door. She left decorum at the front door when a holiday trip to the theatre turned violent. Yet despite all this, she still managed to give the people the one thing they were never expecting – hope that it would all turn aro...

When Amy Winehouse first met with producer Mark Ronson, their candid conversation would become a musical legend. That fateful meeting led to a career-defining song, a critically acclaimed album, and a creative vision that would cement her place in the pop pantheon. It gave her confidence to wage a war against the people who were hurting her the most – and win. But that momentum would prove no match for the steady stream of challeng...

Amy Winehouse made music that sounded like alchemy, thanks in large part to collaborators like producer Salaam Remi. Alchemy was something that became increasingly absent from Amy’s time outside the studio; in its place were lurking paparazzi, incessant boos, cases of Jack Daniels, and a life-sized gallery sculpture that predicted the worst.

For more info on the 27 Club and other great shows, visit the Double Elvis website and follo...