Sarah Jane Morris and the 27 Club: A Tribute to Music's Tormented Talents

Milan, 14 October 2025 – Having to identify a common thread between her passions, Sarah Jane Morris in her new album “Forever Young” , presented in concert last night at the Menotti together with the Solis String Quartet that is now part of her musical universe, focuses on the “Club of 27” .

Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison—twenty-seven-year-olds so full of fire that they burned their lives away at that very age. "No, not Otis Redding , he passed away at 26, but I wanted to include him anyway because of the influence he had on my tastes and my choices," admits the "Redhead" from Southampton who became a 1970s icon after recording "Don't Leave Me This Way" with Jimmy Somerville. In Italy, the general public knows her for her participation in the Sanremo Music Festival with Cocciante in "Se stiamo insieme," but also with Riccardo Fogli, Simona Bencini, and Noemi. She recorded "Alleria" by Pino Daniele in 2011 on an album , "Cello Songs," produced and arranged by maestro Enrico Melozzi, fueling a Neapolitan connection that has led her to collaborate with Solis for years now. “Four splendid musicians who for me are now four brothers.”

Second recording project together after the one three years ago on Beatles songs.

Morris: "Yes, often talented creative people die young—think Keats, Mozart, Schubert, Raphael, or the Brontë sisters. So one day, while reflecting in a restaurant in Rimini, with the sea before our eyes, on what a new path we could embark on together might be, we thought of the splendid artists of the 'Club of 27.'"

Why?

Morris: "Because people like Hendrix and Joplin, thrust into the spotlight by the Monterey Pop Festival in '67, had only four years to leave a lasting mark. So the question that arises is what they would have been able to achieve if life had given them the time."

Same goes for the others.

Morris: “Absolutely. My greatest inspiration remains Winehouse and the inner worlds that her lyrics convey. Her premature death has somehow made her talent and that of others immune to the passage of time, with a brilliance destined to keep them forever young.”

How did you choose the repertoire?

Solis: "Sarah has a passion for Winehouse that borders on obsession, and the album was initially supposed to be entirely dedicated to the heroine of 'Back to Black.' Then we decided to open it up to other wonderful artists with tormented souls, so we put together a long list from which the album's thirteen songs emerged. Motifs so beautiful they could be classical melodies, as demonstrated by the Bachian introduction to The Doors' 'Light My Fire.' We mixed codes, and this is the result."

Great harmony.

Morris: "I'm very proud of the result because, while we each recorded the Beatles tribute at home due to the pandemic, you can feel that this was all born at the same time and in the same studio, recorded live without getting too carried away by technology. My son goes to the Glastonbury Festival every year. I've been there too, but in a different era, and I honestly don't understand how kids feel today listening to all those 'effected' artists live."

Was it complicated?

Solis: "Distorting the Beatles was a gamble. Then, when we played with Sarah in Liverpool on her 64th birthday, and we discovered that she liked the strain, we gained confidence. This time, it was easier."

Since there's no two without three, what could be the common ground for a future collaboration?

Morris: “Now it would be nice to approach Led Zeppelin’s music with this formula.”