Janis Joplin Biography

Janis Joplin was a middle-class white girl who sang the blues with the San Francisco band Big Brother and The Holding Company.

At first a local sensation on the San Francisco scene, Janis Joplin became nationally famous after her performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (organized by John Phillips). She had a major hit with “Piece Of My Heart” in 1968, and for a brief time she was one of America’s biggest rock ‘n roll stars, known for her heartfelt, sweaty, blues-drenched renditions of songs like “Ball and Chain,” “Down on Me” and “Cry Baby.”

Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in a Los Angeles hotel in 1970, two weeks after the death of fellow rock star Jimi Hendrix. Her posthumous album Pearl, featuring a new backup band, was released in 1971 and had a number one hit with “Me And Bobby McGee.”

Janis Joplin lived fast and died young, an American icon and souvenir of the 1960s. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.