Janis Lyn Joplin was born January 19, 1943 and died October 4, 1970. In between she led a triumphant and tumultuous life blessed by an innate talent to convey powerful emotion through heart-stomping rock-and-roll singing. Born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, a small Southern petroleum industry town, she gravitated to artistic interests cultivated by parents Seth and Dorothy Joplin.

Janis Joplin was a middle-class white girl who sang the blues with the San Francisco band Big Brother and The Holding Company. A local sensation, they became nationally famous after their performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (organized by John Phillips). In 1968 they had a hit with “Piece Of My Heart.” Joplin died of a heroin overdose in a Los Angeles hotel in 1970, two weeks after the death of fellow rock star Jimi Hendrix. In 1971 her posthumous album Pearl, featuring a new backup band, had a number one hit with “Me And Bobby McGee.” She lived fast and died young, an American icon and souvenir of the 1960s.