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
Psychedelic rock figures. Some groups, such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, broke up. Hendrix died in London in September 1970, shortly after recording "Band of Gypsys" (1970), Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in October 1970 and they were closely followed by Jim Morrison of the Doors, who died in Paris in July 1971. By this point, many surviving acts had moved away from psychedelia into either more back-to-basics "roots rock", traditional-based, pastoral or whimsical folk, the wider experimentation of progressive rock, or riff-based heavy rock. Following the lead of Hendrix in rock, psychedelia began to influence African American