Life of Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin was born on January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas. While growing up she felt ostracized, a feeling that would last throughout her entire life, and used music as an outlet as well as a safe haven. She was drawn to blues and soul singers like Tina Turner and Odetta but she mostly sang folk blues in coffeehouses.

In 1963, she hitched a ride from Texas to San Francisco. There, she would meet her future band, Big Brother. She describes their first performance together at the Coffee Gallery as: “All of a sudden, someone threw me in front of this rock and roll band,” she said. “And I decided then and there that was it. I never wanted to do anything else.” In the 6 years she performed with Big Brother she was able to be a part of an album, Avalon.

The album hit #1 on the album charts for 8 weeks, featuring the songs,”Ball and Change” and “Piece of My Heart”. Following this success, she decided it was time for a challenge. Joplin wanted to see if she could start a solo career on the center stage, according to her manger John Cooke.. She left Big Brother in December of 1968 with lead guitarist, Sam Andrew, to create her own band called the Kozmic Blues. It was there that Cooke noticed the changes in Joplin, “her attempt to go out as a solo artist had failed. And this led to her darkest period and the worst excesses in terms of alcohol and drugs.” She would later terminate Kozmic Blues to create her third and final band Full-Tilt Boogie which lasted for 7 months, long enough only to complete her last album, “Pearl”. She felt alone much of the time and was even quoted to say: “On stage, I make love to 25,000 different people. Then I go home alone.” This sense of isolation was coupled with her heroin addiction and before the completion of her last song on Pearl she overdosed on October 4, 1970 and died at the age of 27.