Janis Joplin (Janis Lyn Joplin) Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas on January 19th 1943.  As a Teenager she loved painting and Blues music and in describing her High School experience she said that she was mostly shunned and was a misfit.  She attended Lamar State College of Technology and the University of Texas, but in 1963 she left Texas for San Francisco. In San Francisco she lived for a time in Haight-Ashbury and recorded some blues tracks with Jorma Kaukonen who would later play guitar for Jefferson Airplane.  Allegedly, during this time in San Franciso she also used a lot of drugs, including heroin and drank heavily.  In 1965 she moved backed to Texas and enrolled at Lamar University.  However, in 1966 she was recruited to join the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company.  In 1967 they achieved international fame after their appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival.  Their first album was released just a few months after their Festival Appearance.   A second album, 'Cheap Thrills', followed one year later.  "Piece of My Heart" was included on 'Cheap Thrills', which helped that album get to number 1 on the Billboard charts.  (A place it ended up having for 8 weeks in total).       Despite the commercial success of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin left that band at the end of 1968 and formed a new band within weeks called the Kozmic Blues Band.  The final gig for the Kozmic Blues Band occurred under a year later on December 20th, 1969.  But a few months later, Janis got a new group together, the Full Tilt Boogie Band which began touring in May 1970.

In September/October 1970, Janis was recording an album at the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles.  On October 4th, she was supposed to arrive to record the vocals to the song 'Buried Alive in the Blues', but was a no show.  Full Tilt Boogie's road manager was sent to fetch her from her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel.  However, upon entering the room he found her body dead on the floor.  An accidental heroin overdose was the official cause of death.

The album she was working on at the time of her death was released posthumously. Named 'Pearl', it out sold all her previous albums.  'Pearl' contains the hit song written by Kris Kristofferson, 'Me and Bobby McGee'. 

Southern Comfort was reportedly her favorite alcoholic beverage.

Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

Grace Slick and Janis Joplin.