White lighter myth White lighter myth The white lighter myth or white lighter curse is an urban legend based on the 27 Club in which it is claimed several musicians and artists died while in possession of a white lighter, causing white lighters to be attributed to bad fortune. The myth is primarily based on the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Patrick Hafner, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain. The myth has been integrated with cannabis culture. In 2017, Snopes.com published an article discrediting the theory, noting that Bic did not begin producing white disposable lighters until several years after the deaths of
Janis Joplin America certifications of 15.5 million albums sold. Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on , to Dorothy Bonita East (1913–1998), a registrar at a business college, and her husband, Seth Ward Joplin (1910–1987), an engineer at Texaco. She had two younger siblings, Michael and Laura. The family belonged to the Churches of Christ denomination. Her parents felt that Janis needed more attention than their other children. As a teenager, Joplin befriended a group of outcasts, one of whom had albums by blues artists Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Lead Belly, whom Joplin later credited with influencing her