Amy Winehouse

I suspect you weren't too shocked this weekend to read about the death of singer Amy Winehouse. When someone becomes a punchline for out of control drug and alcohol abuse, it's not shocking when they die.

But if you look through my archives, you'll see that I never used her as a punchline. To me, there was nothing funny about Amy Winehouse. It was always evident that she had a deathly serious problem. I hoped that she would snap out of it, but I knew in my heart that she wouldn't.

I saw an interview with her mother yesterday, and it seemed only appropriate that her mom's name is Janis. Janis Joplin is someone that Amy will always be associated with, because like Janis, Amy was 27 when she died. The others in the "27 club" are Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones and Kurt Cobain.

I joke about Keith Richard because he's still alive against all odds. But anyone who thinks that Keith is the norm should look at the list of the 27 Club. That's a far more likely destination when you go over the edge with drugs and alcohol.

At the risk of sounding a million years old, there's nothing glamorous or cool about being an out of control rock star, kids. And there's nothing cool about dying young and leaving a good looking corpse.

It's just tragic.