About Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 19, 1943. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School there in 1960, and in 1962, as an art student at the University of Texas at Austin, she was singing at Threadgill's with the Waller Creek Boys. In January 1963 she hitchhiked to San Francisco.
In 1966 she came back to San Francisco to sing with Big Brother and the Holding Company. Their set at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 made her name, and "Cheap Thrills" (1968), with "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain," spent eight weeks at No. 1. At the end of 1968 she left to go out on her own, first with the Kozmic Blues Band, whose album "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" came out in 1969, the year she played Woodstock.
In 1970 she formed the Full Tilt Boogie Band and crossed Canada by train with the Grateful Dead and others on the Festival Express. That August she and Juanita Green paid for a headstone on the unmarked grave of the blues singer Bessie Smith. In the fall she was in Los Angeles, recording "Pearl" with the producer Paul Rothchild, and she died there on October 4, 1970, at 27.
"Pearl" spent nine weeks at No. 1, and her recording of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" reached No. 1 in March 1971. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
A Life in Time
- 1943: Born Janis Lyn Joplin on January 19 in Port Arthur, Texas
- 1960: Graduates from Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur
- 1962: Studies art at the University of Texas at Austin; sings at Threadgill's with the Waller Creek Boys
- 1963: Hitchhikes to San Francisco in January
- 1966: Joins Big Brother and the Holding Company in San Francisco
- 1967: Breakthrough with Big Brother at the Monterey Pop Festival in June; the band's first album is released
- 1968: "Cheap Thrills" spends eight weeks at No. 1; she leaves Big Brother at the end of the year
- 1969: Releases "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!"; performs at Woodstock in August
- 1970: Forms the Full Tilt Boogie Band and rides the Festival Express across Canada
- 1970: With Juanita Green, pays for a headstone on Bessie Smith's unmarked grave in August
- 1970: Dies in Los Angeles on October 4, at 27, while recording "Pearl"
- 1971: "Pearl" is released; "Me and Bobby McGee" reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 20
- 1995: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 2005: Receives the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Connected lives
- San Francisco, CA · Moved here 1963 · Big Brother
- Kris Kristofferson · "Me and Bobby McGee"
- Albert Grossman · Manager
- Bessie Smith · Headstone, 1970
- Sam Andrew · Big Brother · Kozmic Blues Band
- Chet Helms · Brought her to San Francisco
- Big Brother and the Holding Company · Lead singer
- Austin, TX · University of Texas · Threadgill's
- Bob Weir · Festival Express, 1970
- James Gurley · Big Brother lead guitarist
- Port Arthur, TX · Birthplace