Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most successful and widely known rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals,[1] as well as her "electric" stage presence.[2][3][4]
In 1967, Joplin rose to prominence following an appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, where she was the lead singer of the then little-known San Francisco psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company.[5][6][7] After releasing two albums with the band, she left Big Brother to continue as a solo artist with her own backing groups, first the Kozmic Blues Band and then the Full Tilt Boogie Band. She appeared at the 1969 Woodstock festival and on the Festival Express train tour. Five singles by Joplin reached the US Billboard Hot 100, including a cover of the Kris Kristofferson song "Me and Bobby McGee", which posthumously reached number one in March 1971.[8] Her most popular songs include her cover versions of "Piece of My Heart", "Cry Baby", "Down on Me", "Ball and Chain", "Summertime", and her original song "Mercedes Benz", her final recording.[9][10]
Joplin died of a heroin overdose in 1970, at the age of 27, after releasing three albums (two with Big Brother and the Holding Company and one solo album). A second solo album, Pearl, was released in January 1971, three months after her death. It reached number one on the Billboard 200. She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked Joplin number 46 on its 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"[11] and number 28 on its 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".[12] NPR dubbed Joplin as "The Queen of Rock" and named her one of the "50 Great Voices".[13] She remains one of the top-selling vocalists in the United States, with Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certifications of 18.5 million albums sold.[14]
^Bennett, Gloria (1994). Breaking Through: From Rock to Opera, the Basic Technique of Voice. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7935-7238-0. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
^Kemp, Mark. "Janis Joplin Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016.
^Gaar, Gillian G. (February 9, 2000). "Janis Joplin". Britannica.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^"Janis Joplin Collection". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012.
^"Women Who Rock: Greatest Breakthrough Moments, 1967 Janis Joplin takes a piece of our heart". Rolling Stone. June 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
^Yamato, Jen (November 21, 2015). "The Secret Life of Janis Joplin: A Girl, Interrupted". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^Robins, Wayne (2016). A Brief History of Rock, Off the Record. Routledge. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-1-1359-2346-4.
^"Janis Joplin". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015.
^"The 10 best Janis Joplin songs". The Daily Telegraph. September 23, 2015. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
^Gallucci, Michael (January 19, 2013). "Top 10 Janis Joplin Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^"100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 11, 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^"100 Greatest Singers of All Time (2008)". Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
^"Janis Joplin: The Queen of Rock". NPR.
^"Top Artists (Albums)". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most successful and widely known rock performers...
Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual...
This Is JanisJoplin 1965 is an album by JanisJoplin released by James Gurley in 1995. Recorded originally in 1965, the seven tracks that appear here...
personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist JanisJoplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer...
musicians between 1969 and 1971 (such as Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, JanisJoplin, and Jim Morrison), dying at the age of 27 came to be, and remains, a...
A Night with JanisJoplin is a musical that includes works of singer-songwriter JanisJoplin (1943–1970). Written and directed by Randy Johnson, the show...
founder and manager of Big Brother and the Holding Company and recruited JanisJoplin as its lead singer. He was a producer and organizer, helping to stage...
based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by JanisJoplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously...
mainstream attention when Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring JanisJoplin on lead vocals covered the song in 1968 and had a much bigger hit, after...
Woodstock: The Director's Cut was released and expanded to include JanisJoplin as well as additional performances by Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix...
to replace the lead singer. Fritz later opened for Jimi Hendrix and JanisJoplin from 1968 until 1970. Nicks credits both acts as inspiring her stage...
performed twice as the "singing" JanisJoplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis, before dropping out of the show. "I left Janis because the producers failed...
Fields' statement on JanisJoplin's Opinion of Jim Morrison". Dazed Digital. July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2021. Joplin, Janis (July 18, 1969). "The...
of North America's most popular rock bands, including Grateful Dead, JanisJoplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito Bros, Ian & Sylvia's Great Speckled...
The Highs and Lows of JanisJoplin, featuring Sophie B. Hawkins as Joplin. It opened on October 4, the anniversary of Joplin's death, and its run was...