The concept of selling your soul to the Devil for fortune and fame is hardly recent. More recent developments to this trend could be the Internet-wide conspiracy that many celebrities are actually members of the Illuminati and the much more somber online theory of the 27 Club.

Whatever form this recurring legend of soul-selling takes, the names of those below are thought to belong to a very elite list.

Robert Johnson

As the story goes, Johnson was directed towards a crossroads where he met the Devil, who tuned his guitar and taught him how to master the blues. According to legend, the price for Johnson’s gift was an early demise, which is speculated to be the fault of a jealous husband who poisoned Johnson after catching him with his wife.

Even more than a century after his birth, Johnson’s legacy is still plagued with rumors surrounding his end. Johnson was prolific as a musician, producing six records before he passed at the age of twenty-seven. The location of Johnson’s unmarked final resting place is still unknown.

Niccolò Paganini

One of his most famous pieces is titled “Le Streghe,” which translates to “Witches’ Dance.” Because of this title, many believed that Paganini had made a deal with the Devil to become the greatest musician in the world.

The claim was supported by his unmatched skills, which including the ability to play three octaves across four strings in one hand – a feat that is still considered nearly impossible. He once won a rare, very valuable Stradivarius violin by playing a piece so technical it was said to be unplayable without extensive preparation. Paganini played it on sight.

Of course, there are more down-to-earth explanations for his seemingly superhuman skills, such as Marfan syndrome, a genetic mutation that results in elongated fingers, among other traits. Other theories offer Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as a possible cause, an inheritable disorder commonly know as Rubber Man Syndrome.

Thanks to Paganini’s skill and the eerie theories surrounding it, people both adored and feared him. Fans claimed he was the son of the devil, or the devil himself. Others claimed they could see a demonic figure just off stage, guiding Paganini’s bow.

Eventually, Paganini had to publish letters from his mother to prove that he was born to human parents. The rumors even impacted him posthumously, as no church would give him a Catholic burial. His family ultimately had to make a formal papal appeal in order to give him a proper burial.

Urbain Grandier

At his torturous trial, the judges revealed documents that supposedly proved his demonic pact. The pact was written backwards in Latin, and is thought to even include the signature of Satan himself. The pact reads:

“We, the influential Lucifer, the young Satan, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Elimi, and Astaroth, together with others, have today accepted the covenant pact of Urbain Grandier, who is ours. And him do we promise the love of women, the flower of virgins, the respect of monarchs, honors, lusts and powers.

He will go whoring three days long; the carousal will be dear to him. He offers us once in the year a seal of blood, under the feet he will trample the holy things of the church and he will ask us many questions; with this pact he will live twenty years happy on the earth of men, and will later join us to sin against God.

Bound in hell, in the council of demons. Lucifer Beelzebub Satan Astaroth Leviathan Elimi. The seals placed the Devil, the master, and the demons, princes of the lord. Baalberith, writer.”

Grandier may have also confessed under torture, his downfall carefully orchestrated by a jealous nun whose advances he had rejected, though little evidence supports this theory.

Led Zeppelin

The rock & roll genre has long been rumored to be under demonic influence. As such, it’s no shock that one of the most successful rock bands in history has been rumored to make deals with the Devil. Guitarist Jimmy Page, known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, stated, “My interest in the occult started when I was fifteen. I do not worship the Devil, but Magick does intrigue me. Magick of all kinds. I read Magick in Theory and Practice when I was about 11 years old, but it wasn’t for some years that I understood what it was all about.”

Page even had occultist Aleister Crowley’s words, “Do what thou wilt,” inscribed into the grooves of the original III vinyl, and later went on to purchase Crowely’s old house.

Though Page denies any demonic involvement of his own, he seems to believe that Zeppelin front man Robert Plant was visited by a possibly Satanic power when he created their beloved track “Stairway to Heaven.” In an interview, Page said:

“Robert was sitting in the corner, or rather leaning against the wall, and as I was routining the rest of the band with this idea and this piece, he was just writing. And all of a sudden he got up and started singing, along with another run-through, and he must have had 80% of the words there.”

Perhaps the fact that Plant didn’t actually write the words to “Stairway” explain why fans have discovered Satanic messages when playing the IV album backwards. For example, “Oh, here’s to my sweet Satan. The one whose little path made me sad, whose power is Satan. He’ll give those with him 666. And all those fools who made us suffer, Sad Satan.”

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa was one of the most influential writers of the Renaissance era. Though he never obtaining a degree, he was a scholar of law and medicine.

To most, he was known as a magician, alchemist, and astrologer. With his knowledge of the law, he frequently defended women accused of witchcraft and wrote three books on the occult that are still heralded as primary sources on the subject today.

In 1535, Agrippa was accused of heresy and condemned to death. He escaped, but died shortly after. After his death, rumors circulated about him consorting with demons. In the most famous of these stories, Agrippa kept a demonic black dog as his familiar. The dog (known as schwarze Pudel in German) later made appearances in numerous legends about Johann Faust, another Renaissance thinker who was rumored to be in cahoots with the devil.

Gilles De Rais

A 15th-century aristocrat, Gilles de Rais was left with massive amounts of wealth and power in his youth upon his father’s passing. Despite these advantages, he had no one to teach him how to care for them properly, and he quickly squandered his family’s assets.

In a desperate attempt to regain his lost fortune, he began to experiment with the occult under the direction of Antonio Francisco Prelati, a former priest who assured him that he would regain his wealth if he sacrificed children to a demon named Baron.

After the alleged deal, Gilles de Rais embarked on a violent spree, killing and torturing anywhere between 80 and 200 children. He was later caught, tried, and found guilty for his countless crimes. He was executed in 1440.

Giuseppe Tartini

Giuseppe Tartini wrote over 400 works over the course of his career, and unlike most of his contemporaries, he composed no church music, focusing instead on violin concerti and sonatas. The story of his alleged deal with the Devil originates in his most famous piece, “Devil’s Trill Sonata.”

Tartini allegedly dreamed that the Devil had come to him asking Tartini to be his servant. Tartini gave the Devil his violin, who immediately began to play with such skill that he took Tartini’s breath away. When the composer rose from his dream, he immediately wrote down the sonata from memory, and thus wrote the most popular piece of music of his career.

Despite the sonata’s success, the composer knew that the piece was still far from the Devil’s original rendition. What Tartini himself had written was, in his own words, “So inferior to what I had heard, that if I could have subsisted on other means, I would have broken my violin and abandoned music forever.”

Pope Sylvester II

The first French pope, and perhaps the most significant pope of his era, Pope Sylvester II was known to be well-versed in mathematics, mechanics, and astronomy. He is credited with inventing the pendulum lock and the hydraulic organ, as well as introducing Arabic numerals to the Western world.

The rumors of his Satanic deal-making only began after he passed in 1003. Rumors swirled that his great intelligence and inventive ability were a result of a pact with the Devil; however, this was likely due to his regular contact with the Eastern world and the fact that he tried to root out corruption and bribery within the church.

Bob Dylan

In a 2004 interview, famed musician Bob Dylan cryptically explained that he owes his success to a years-old deal:

• Interviewer: Why are you still out here?
• Dylan: It goes back to that destiny thing. I made a bargain with it, you know, long time ago. And I’m holding up my end.
• Interviewer: What was your bargain?
• Dylan: To get where I am now.
• Interviewer: Should I ask who you made the bargain with?
• Dylan: With the Chief Commander.
• Interviewer: On this Earth?
• Interviewer: In this earth and in a world we can’t see.

In the same interview – Dylan’s first in nineteen years – he said, “Those early songs are almost magically written.”

Johann Georg Faust

Johann Georg Faust, the real-life subject of Goethe’s famous tragedy, Faust, was an alchemist, astrologer, and magician of the German Renaissance. His rumored collusion with the Devil became the subject of numerous tales, most notably Goethe’s Faust and The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faust.

Faust allegedly made a deal with the Devil (represented by a lesser demon, Mephistopheles) for his soul in return for twenty-four years of service from Mephistopheles himself. While the deal was for the demon to fulfill “every lust in [Faust’s] heart,” all the granted wishes eventually end horribly, and after sixteen years, Faust regrets his deal and asks to withdraw.

The end of his tale differs depending on the version. In some, angels save Faust and bring him into heaven despite his deal; in others, Mephistopheles carries him off to hell to be tormented eternally.

Ozzy Osbourne

Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne is so notorious for his connections to the occult that his nickname, “Ozzy Prince of Darkness,” was even made the name of his solo studio album. Osbourne’s personal connection to the Devil is well documented, as he has been open about it throughout his career.

In a 1984 issue of Hit Parader, Osbourne said, “I really wish I knew why I’ve done some of the things I’ve done over the years. Sometimes I think that I’m possessed by some outside spirit. A few years ago, I was convinced of that – I thought I truly was possessed by the Devil. I remember sitting through The Exorcist a dozen times, saying to myself, ‘Yeah, I can relate to that.'”

In another issue, he stated, “I don’t know if I’m a medium for some outside source. Whatever it is, frankly, I hope it is not what I think … Satan.”

He also practically admitted that he made a deal himself, saying, “I already have. Well, you sell your soul to the Devil when you do something yourself that you shouldn’t, and I already have. I’ve f*cking lived my life to the fullest. If there’s an afterlife, I’ve got a good f*cking spot in the furnace, you know?”

Theophilus Of Adana

In perhaps the oldest story of a mortal striking up a devilish bargain, Saint Theophilus the Penitent was said to have made a deal with the Devil after he turned down the position of bishop out of humility, though he later regretted this decision.

He allegedly sought out a wizard to help him contact the Devil. In order to help him, the Devil commanded that Theophilus renounce Jesus and the Virgin Mary in a contract signed in his own blood.

Years later, Theophilus regretted this deal and fasted for seventy-three days before the very contract he signed appeared on his chest. He then took the contract to the legitimate bishop and confessed. The bishop burned the document, and Theophilus was so overjoyed to be free that he died shortly after.

Jay-Z

World-famous rapper Jay-Z has battled connections to the Illuminati – an infamous secret society allegedly possessing unknowable power – throughout much of his career. This is partly due to the fact that Jay-Z has referenced the Devil in his music multiple times, including one song simply named “Lucifer.”

His music videos are also filled with seemingly occultist symbolism and imagery including Jay-Z wearing clothes with the famous Satanic phrase, “do what thou wilt.”

Some of his past merchandise has also been decorated with the Satanic pentagram and the all-seeing eye. Even hip-hop artist MC Hammer believes Jay-Z made a Faustian bargain.