Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Melissa Etheridge
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Melissa Lou Etheridge
birth date	May 29, 1961
origin	Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
spouse	Tammy Lynn Michaels (2003–2009)
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, mandolin
genre	Heartland Rock, Folk Rock, Blues Rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, activist
years active	1988–present
label	Island Records
website	MelissaEtheridge.com }}

Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.

Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals. She has also been an iconic gay and lesbian activist since her public coming out in January 1993.

Life and career

1961–86: Early life and career

Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the younger of two girls, to John Etheridge, a psychology teacher at Leavenworth High School, and Elizabeth Williamson, a computer consultant. She attended David Brewer School, which is still located at 17th and Osage Streets. She graduated in 1979 from Leavenworth High School (LHS), 10th Avenue and Halderman. Etheridge was a member of the first "Power and Life" musical/dance group at LHS which is still active today. Her childhood home was at 1902 Miami Street.

Etheridge's interest in music began early; she picked up up her first guitar at 8. She began to play in all-men country music groups throughout her teenage years, until she moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music.

While in Berklee, Etheridge played the club circuit around Boston. After three semesters, Etheridge decided to drop out of Berklee and head to Los Angeles to attempt a career in music. Etheridge was discovered in a bar called Vermie's in Pasadena CA. She had made some friends on a women's soccer team and those new friends came to see her play. One of the women was Karla Leopold, whose husband, Bill Leopold, was a manager in the music business. Karla convinced Bill to see her perform live. He was impressed, and has remained a pivotal part of Etheridge's career ever since. This, in addition to her gigs in lesbian bars around Los Angeles, got her discovered by Island Records chief Chris Blackwell. She got a publishing deal to write songs for movies including the 1986 movie Weeds.

In 1985, prior to her signing, Etheridge sent her demo to Olivia Records, a lesbian record label, but was ultimately rejected. She saved the rejection letter, signed by "the women of Olivia", which was later featured in ''Intimate Portrait: Melissa Etheridge'', the Lifetime Television documentary of her life.

After an unreleased first effort that was rejected by Island Records as being too polished and glossy, she completed her stripped down self-titled debut in just four days. Her eponymous debut album ''Melissa Etheridge'' was an underground hit, and the single, "Bring Me Some Water", a turntable hit, was nominated for a Grammy.

At the time of the album's release, it was not generally known that Etheridge was a lesbian. While on the road promoting the album, she paused in Memphis, Tennessee, to be interviewed for the radio syndication, Pulsebeat—Voice of the Heartland, explaining the intensity of her music by saying: "People think I'm really sad--or really angry. But my songs are written about the conflicts I have . . . I have no anger toward anyone else." She invited the radio syndication producer to attend her concert that night. He did and was surprised to find himself one of the few males in attendance.

1986–92: Road to rock stardom

Etheridge followed up her first album's modest success by contributing background vocals to Don Henley's album ''The End of the Innocence''. She went into the studio and recorded her sophomore effort ''Brave and Crazy'' which was released in 1989.

''Brave and Crazy'' followed the same musical formula as her eponymous debut garnering a Grammy nomination. The album peaked at #22 on the ''Billboard'' charts (equal to her first album). Etheridge then went on the road, taking a page from one of her musical influences Bruce Springsteen, and built a loyal fan base. Etheridge is a Bruce Springsteen fan, and she has covered his songs "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run" during live shows.

In 1992, Etheridge released her third album ''Never Enough''. Similar to her prior two albums, ''Never Enough'' didn't reach the top of the charts peaking at #21 but gave Etheridge her first Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Ain't It Heavy". ''Never Enough'' was considered a more personal and mature album from Etheridge at that time. With rumors circulating around her sexuality (Etheridge was not out yet at this point), the album seemed to inadvertedly address these rumors.

In 1992, Etheridge established a performing arts scholarship at Leavenworth High School in honor of her father. She said her father used to "spend his weekends driving me to Kansas City and all points around there so I could play in bands. I was underage so I couldn't have gone without him."

1993: Yes I Am

On September 21, 1993, Etheridge released what would become her mainstream breakthrough recording ''Yes I Am''. Co-produced with former The Police and Genesis Grammy-winning and Producer of the Year award-winning producer Hugh Padgham, ''Yes I Am'' spent 138 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and peaked at #15 and scored mainstream hits "Come to My Window" and her only Billboard Top 10 single "I'm the Only One", which also hit #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Sales-wise, ''Yes I Am'' earned a RIAA certification of 6× Platinum making it her biggest selling album to date.

Etheridge earned her second Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Come to My Window". She also garnered two additional nominations in the Best Rock Song category for "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window" losing to Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia".

In 1993, Etheridge boycotted playing shows in Colorado over its passage of Amendment 2.

In a visit to Leavenworth in November 1994, she performed a benefit concert for a new park to be built near the high school. A ball field at the park will be named after her father. While she was here, she also donated money to help refurbish the Performing Arts Center in Leavenworth at 401 Delaware.

In 1994, Etheridge played a cover version of "Burning Love" live in Memphis, during the "It's Now Or Never, The Tribute To Elvis".

1995–2002: After her breakthrough

The success of ''Yes I Am'' helped increase sales of Etheridge's earlier albums. In 1995 ''Melissa Etheridge'' earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum while ''Never Enough'' earned a RIAA certification of Platinum

Etheridge's follow-up to ''Yes I Am'' was the moderately successful ''Your Little Secret'' which wasn't as well received by critics as prior recordings. ''Your Little Secret'' is the highest charting album of Etheridge's career reaching #6 on the Billboard album charts, but only spent 41 weeks on the chart. The album produced two Top 40 singles "I Want to Come Over" (Billboard #22) and "Nowhere to Go" (Billboard #40) and earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum, less than "Yes I Am."

In 1996, Etheridge won ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award. She also took a lengthy break from the music business to concentrate on her domestic arrangements. She also recorded "Sin Tener A Donde Ir (Nowhere to Go)" for the AIDS benefit album ''Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin'' produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 1997, she appeared as herself on the sitcom ''Ellen'' on "The Puppy Episode Part 2".

Etheridge returned to the music charts with the release of ''Breakdown'' in October 1999. ''Breakdown'' peaked at #12 on the Billboard charts and spent 18 weeks in the charts. Despite this, ''Breakdown'' was the only album of Etheridge's career to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album (losing to Santana's ''Supernatural''). In addition, her single "Angels Would Fall" was nominated in two categories: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (losing to Sheryl Crow) and Best Rock Song (losing to Red Hot Chili Peppers) in 2000. A year later, another single from the album "Enough of Me" was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (also losing to Sheryl Crow).

The album earned a RIAA certification of Gold, below her prior 5 albums.

2001 saw the release of ''Skin'' an album she described as "the closest I've ever come to recording a concept album. It has a beginning, middle and end. It's a journey." ''Skin'' garnered generally positive reviews with Metacritic scoring the album 73/100 from 9 reviews. Recorded post her breakup with first partner Julie Cypher, critics noted that ''Skin'' was "A harrowing, clearly autobiographical dissection of a decaying relationship." Despite the positive reviews, ''Skin'' sold less than 500,000 copies. On the Billboard charts, it peaked at #9 but dropped out of the Top 200 after just 12 weeks. The single "I Want to Be in Love" was nominated for the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (losing to Lucinda Williams).

In 2002, Etheridge released her autobiography titled, "The Truth Is: My Life in Love and Music."

2004–present: ''Lucky'', cancer diagnosis, Academy Awards and Fearless Love

Etheridge began 2004 with the release of her eighth album ''Lucky'' on February 10. The album was a more joyful Etheridge who was now in the midst of celebrating a new relationship with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels whom she began dating in 2001. ''Lucky'' performed similarly to ''Skin'', selling less than 500,000 copies, peaking on the Billboard charts at #15 and spending 13 weeks on the charts. It also garnered a Grammy nomination for Etheridge's cover of the Greenwheel song "Breathe" for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo (losing to Bruce Springsteen).

In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the 2005 Grammy Awards (the same ceremony for which "Breathe" was nominated), she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song "Piece of My Heart". Etheridge was praised for her performance, which was considered one of the highlights of the show. Etheridge's bravery was lauded in song in India.Arie's "I Am Not My Hair".

On September 10, 2005, Etheridge participated in ReAct Now: Music & Relief, a telethon in support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. ReAct Now, part of an ongoing effort by MTV, VH1, CMT, seeks to raise funds for the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and America's Second Harvest. Etheridge introduced a new song specially written for the occasion called "Four Days". The a cappella song included themes and images that were on the news during the aftermath of the hurricane. Other charities she supports include The Dream Foundation and Love Our Children USA.

On November 15, 2005, Etheridge appeared on the ''Tonight Show'' to perform her song "I Run for Life", which references her own fight with breast cancer and her determination to overcome it, and seeks to encourage other breast cancer survivors and their families. After her performance Jay Leno told her, "Thanks for being a fighter, kiddo".

Etheridge wrote the song "I Need to Wake Up" for the film documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth'', which won the Academy Award for Best Original Songin 2006. The song was released only on the enhanced version of her greatest hits album, ''The Road Less Traveled''.

Etheridge was also a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

In August 2006, Melissa also produced and sang the vocal tracks on the Brother Bear 2 soundtrack, including collaborations with Josh Kelley. On July 7, 2007, Etheridge performed at the Giants Stadium on the American leg of Live Earth. Etheridge performed the songs "Imagine That" and "What Happens Tomorrow" from ''The Awakening'', her tenth album, released on September 25, 2007, as well as the song "I Need To Wake Up" before introducing Al Gore. On December 11, 2007 she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast live to over 100 countries. In addition, she performed at the U.S. 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 27, 2008. In July 2009, Etheridge announced through her website that she and John Shanks would begin recording her 11th studio album the following summer. This was the first time since 1999 Etheridge and Shanks were the only ones involved in the production of a project.

Etheridge will be featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docudrama titled ''1 a Minute'' scheduled for release in 2010. The documentary is being made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral and will also feature breast cancer suriviors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith as well as William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt. The feature is narrated by Kelly McGillis. The film will also star Bárbara Mori, Lisa Ray, Deepak Chopra and Morgan Brittany.

Etheridge also held a private listening party hosted at Michele Clark's Sunset Sessions 2010. She debuted her new album ''Fearless Love'' at the event held at the Rancho Bernardo Inn where she did a question and answer and played an acoustic set of her new singles in front of convention attendees and about 50 listeners of host station KPRI/SAN DIEGO.

Etheridge performed her title track "Fearless Love" from her new album and "Come to My Window" from 1993 on the airing of April 27, 2010's "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC.

Etheridge performed the role of St. Jimmy in Green Day's hit Broadway musical, American Idiot from February 1–6, 2011. Etheridge said in July 2011 that she is writing songs for a musical that her partner, Linda Wallem, is writing.

Personal life

Etheridge's father, John Etheridge, was a high school psychology teacher, counselor and athletic director at her alma mater, ''Leavenworth High School''. He died in 1993. Her mother Elizabeth was a homemaker and a computer analyst and is now retired.

Etheridge came out publicly as a lesbian in January 1993 at the Triangle Ball, a gay celebration of President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. Etheridge supported Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and since her coming out has been famous as a gay rights activist. She is also a committed advocate for environmental issues and in 2006, she toured the US and Canada using biodiesel.

Etheridge had a long-term partnership with Julie Cypher, and their relationship occasionally received press coverage. During this partnership, Cypher gave birth to two children, Bailey Jean, born February 10, 1997, and Beckett, born November 1998, fathered by sperm donor David Crosby. In 2000, Cypher began to reconsider her sexuality and on September 19, 2000, Etheridge and Cypher announced they were separating. In 2001, Etheridge documented her breakup with Cypher and other experiences in her memoir.

In April 2003, Etheridge became engaged to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. The two had a commitment ceremony in Malibu, California, on September 20, 2003, which was featured on ABC's ''InStyle Celebrity Weddings''. In April 2006, Etheridge and Michaels announced that Michaels was pregnant with twins via an anonymous sperm donor. Michaels gave birth to a daughter, Johnnie Rose and a son, Miller Steven, on October 17, 2006.

In October 2008, five months after the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, Etheridge announced that she and Michaels were planning to marry but were currently "trying to find the right time... to go down and do it". In November 2008, in response to the passing of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, Etheridge announced that she would not pay her state taxes as an act of civil disobedience. On April 15, 2010 Etheridge and Michaels announced they had separated.

In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy. In October 2005, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Etheridge appeared on ''Dateline NBC'' with Michaels to discuss her struggle with cancer. By the time of the interview, Etheridge's hair had grown back after being lost during chemotherapy. She said that her partner had been very supportive during her illness. Etheridge also discussed using medicinal marijuana while she was receiving the chemotherapy. She said that the drug improved her mood and increased her appetite. In a June 15, 2009 interview with Anderson Cooper, Etheridge admitted that she still uses marijuana to lessen the effects of acid reflux or in extremely stressful situations. Medical marijuana is legal in the state of California.

Etheridge supported Barack Obama's decision to have Pastor Rick Warren speak at his 2009 Presidential inauguration, believing that he can sponsor dialogue to bridge the gap between gay and straight Christians. She stated in her column at ''The Huffington Post'' that "Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise, that are beginning to listen."

Awards

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) |- |rowspan="1"|2007 |"I Need To Wake Up" from the documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth'' |Best Original Song | |-

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Etheridge has won two awards from fifteen nominations.

|- |rowspan="1"|1989 |"Bring Me Some Water" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|1990 |"Brave and Crazy" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|1991 |"The Angels" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|1993 |"Ain't It Heavy" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="3"|1995 |rowspan="2"|"Come to My Window" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |Best Rock Song | |- |"I'm the Only One" |Best Rock Song | |- |rowspan="3"|2000 |rowspan="2"|"Angels Would Fall" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |Best Rock Song | |- |''Breakdown'' |Best Rock Album | |- |rowspan="1"|2001 |"Enough of Me" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|2002 |"I Want To Be In Love" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|2003 |"The Weakness in Me" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | |- |rowspan="1"|2005 |"Breathe" |Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo | |- |rowspan="1"|2007 |"I Need To Wake Up" |Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media | |-

Other accolades

At the 20th Annual Juno Awards in 1990, Etheridge won International Entertainer of the Year.

In 1996, she was awarded ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year Award.

In 2001, she won the Gibson Guitar Award for Best Rock Guitarist: Female.

In 2006, at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards, Etheridge received GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which honors openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights. In addition, she was awarded as Outstanding Music Artist for ''Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled''.

On May 13, 2006, at Berklee College of Music's 2006 commencement, held at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena, in Boston, Massachusetts, Berklee's president, Roger H. Brown, presented Etheridge with an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree "in recognition of her music touching the lives of millions, her fearless and honest voice, and the way she has used her music and celebrity to inspire hope and courage among fellow cancer patients." Etheridge delivered the commencement address in front of more than 800 graduating students and 4,000 guests.

On February 18, 2009, Etheridge was named the "Celebrity Marshall" for Boston's 2009 Pride Parade by the Boston Pride Committee.

Discography

1988: ''Melissa Etheridge''

1989: ''Brave and Crazy''

1992: ''Never Enough''

1993: ''Yes I Am''

1995: ''Your Little Secret''

1999: ''Breakdown''

2001: ''Skin''

2004: ''Lucky''

2005: ''Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled''

2007: ''The Awakening''

2008: ''A New Thought For Christmas''

2010: ''Fearless Love''

2011: ''Icon"

References

External links

allaccess.com

sunsetsessions.org

JUST CAUSE Magazine interview about activism, family, breast cancer. (Sept, 2009)

Melissa Etheridge @ Island Records

Melissa Etheridge Information Network

60 Minutes II Interview (June 30, 2000) with Charlie Rose

CNN interview (May 24, 2003)

CBS Early Show interview (October 26, 2005) (includes video)

CMT.com: Melissa Etheridge: Biography

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from Leavenworth County, Kansas Category:American contraltos Category:American female guitarists Category:American female singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:Female rock singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Lesbian musicians Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT parents Category:Musicians from Kansas Category:Island Records artists Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners Category:Juno Award winners

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Joss Stone
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jocelyn Eve Stoker
born	April 11, 1987Dover, Kent, England, United Kingdom
genre	Blue-eyed soul, R&B;, blues
associated acts	SuperHeavy
occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress
years active	2001–present
label	Relentless, S-Curve, Virgin, Stone'd
website	}}

Joss Stone (born Jocelyn Eve Stoker; 11 April 1987) is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, the equally multiplatinum ''Mind Body & Soul'', topped the UK Albums Chart for one week and spawned the top ten hit "You Had Me", Stone's most successful single on the UK Singles Chart to date. Both album and single each received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, while Stone herself was nominated for Best New Artist, and in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2004 was ranked fifth as a predicted breakthrough act of 2004. She became the youngest British female singer to top the UK Albums Chart in history to have her first album at number one.

Stone's third album, ''Introducing Joss Stone'', released in March 2007, achieved gold record status by the RIAA and yielded the second-ever highest debut for a British female solo artist on the ''Billboard'' 200, which became Stone' first Top 5 album in the United States and first non-Top 10 album in the United Kingdom. Stone released her fourth album, ''Colour Me Free!'', on 20 October 2009, which did reach Top 10 on ''Billboard''. Stone released her fifth album, ''LP1'', on 22 July 2011, which did reach Top 10 on ''Billboard''. Throughout her career, Stone has sold eleven million albums, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time, best-selling soul artists of the 2000s and best-selling British artists of her time. Her first three albums have sold over 2,722,000 copies in the United States, while her first two albums have sold over 2,000,000 copies in United Kingdom. Stone has won two BRIT Awards and one Grammy Award. She also made her film acting debut in late 2006 with the fantasy adventure film ''Eragon'', and made her television debut portraying Anne of Cleves in the Showtime series ''The Tudors'' in 2009. Stone was the youngest woman on the 2006 ''Sunday Times Rich List''—an annual list of the UK's wealthiest people—with £6 million.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Stone was born at Buckland Hospital in Dover, Kent and spent her teenage years in Ashill, a small village near Cullompton in Devon. She is the third of four children born to Richard and Wendy Stoker. Her father owns a fruit and nut import/export business; her mother worked as Stone's manager until October 2004. Stone made her first public appearance at the Uffculme Comprehensive School—which she attended—in Uffculme, Devon, with a cover version of Jackie Wilson's 1957 song "Reet Petite". Stone blames her dyslexia for the fact that she left school at age sixteen with only three GCSE qualifications. "It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic", she says.

Stone grew up listening to a wide variety of music including 1960s and 1970s American R&B; and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. As a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. "My first CD that I owned was ''Aretha Franklin: Greatest Hits''. And I saw the advert on TV and it was just like little clips of her songs. I had no idea who she was—I was only like 10 so. I said, 'Oh yeah, that looks really good', so I wrote it down and I said to my mum, 'Can I have that for Christmas?' So she told my friend Dennis, who always gets me good music anyway, and he got that for me. So that was one of my first albums that I loved." She would later tell MTV News: "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little."

2001–2005: ''The Soul Sessions'' & ''Mind Body Soul'' era

In 2001, at the age of thirteen, Stone auditioned for the BBC Television talent show ''Star for a Night'' in London singing Franklin's 1968 Goffin-King hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Whitney Houston's 1998 "It's Not Right but It's Okay". After passing her audition, she sang Donna Summer's 1979 "On the Radio" for the broadcast, and eventually won the contest. She also appeared on and won Steps To The Stars (A TV Programme Hosted By H & Claire). Stone then performed on a charity show, where she drew the attention of the Boilerhouse Boys, composed of London-based producers Andy Dean and Ben Wolfe, who contacted S-Curve Records founder and chief executive officer Steve Greenberg in December 2001 telling him that "they had just heard the greatest singer they'd ever heard from their country." In early 2002, Greenberg flew Stone to New York City for an audition, in which she sang to backing tracks of classic soul songs: Otis Redding's 1968 "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1973 "Midnight Train to Georgia", and Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"; Greenberg instantly signed her to his label.

After being signed by S-Curve Records, her U.S. market album was released by the label S-Curve Records and in the international market her album was released by the label EMI Music. Stone flew to Miami and Philadelphia to start work on her debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', released on 16 September 2003. She collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver as well as contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots. The album consists of little-known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee, Bettye Swann, and others. Released in late 2003, it reached the top five on the UK Albums Chart as well as the top forty of the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The lead single, "Fell in Love with a Boy", a reworking of The White Stripes' 2001 "Fell in Love with a Girl", reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart, as did the second single, a cover version of Sugar Billy's 1974 song "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' on Me)". The album eventually went triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in mid-April 2005 and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in late March 2004.

After achieving critical acclaim with ''The Soul Sessions'', Stone recorded her second album—this time with new material—''Mind Body & Soul'', released on 28 September 2004. She called the album her real debut. It proved to be an even bigger success than her previous album, as it debuted at number one in the UK (breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the UK Albums Chart, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne) and just missed the top ten of the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, after peaking at number eleven. The lead single, "You Had Me", became her biggest hit to date when it rose to number nine in the UK. Follow-up singles "Right to Be Wrong" and "Spoiled" both made the top forty, and "Don't Cha Wanna Ride", the top twenty. "Spoiled" landed just outside the top fifty of U.S. Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number fifty-four. In early September 2005, ''Mind, Body & Soul'' was certified triple platinum by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. In 2004, Stone began dating Beau Dozier, with whom she co-wrote the song "Spoiled". Dozier is the son of Motown producer Lamont Dozier, who is best known as part of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The two split up in November 2005.

Stone joined Band Aid 20 on 14 November 2004 in benefit of Sudan's troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organisers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born two years after the release of the original single, was not initially aware of who Bob Geldof was. The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf. Despite some criticism, the single became the UK's biggest-selling single of 2004 as well as the 2004 Christmas number-one single. At the 2005 BRIT Awards, Stone won for British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act—entering the ''Guinness World Records'' as the youngest BRIT Award solo winner at age seventeen—, and was nominated for British Breakthrough Act. She also received a nomination for Best UK Act of the Year at the 2005 MOBO Awards, as well as three nominations for the 2005 Grammy Awards—Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "You Had Me", and Best Pop Vocal Album for ''Mind Body & Soul''—, where she sang with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to blues-rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of "Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart" was released as a single, and through the aid of strong digital download sales, became Stone's first single to enter the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, when it debuted and peaked at number thirty-two the week of 2 April 2005. That same year, she was voted the World's Sexiest Vegetarian by peta2, alongside Chris Martin.

In March 2005, Stone was named the spokesperson for the Gap clothing company, replacing the actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She appeared in a television advertisement for that store chain singing a cover of Ray Charles's 1958 song "Night Time Is the Right Time" (retitled "The Right Time"). Stone also appeared in one of Gap's Fall 2005 "Favorites" commercials, singing The Beach Boys' 1966 song "God Only Knows". By that time, rumours circulated about her being dropped from the campaign because she was living with then-twenty-five-year-old songwriter and producer Beau Dozier (son of Motown producer and composer Lamont Dozier) in Los Angeles while she was only seventeen. However, Gap later denied the rumours, stating that they were very happy with Stone and telling BBC Radio 1 that the claims were "absolute tosh" and "a complete fabrication". On 11 April 2005, Stone performed "Spoiled", Rufus' 1974 song "Tell Me Something Good" with John Legend, Otis Redding's 1966 song "Try a Little Tenderness" with Donna Summer, and 1977's "Hot Legs" with Rod Stewart at "Save the Music: A Concert to Benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation", in benefit of VH1's Save the Music Foundation. Three months later, on 2 July 2005, Stone performed "Super Duper Love", "I Had a Dream", and "Some Kind of Wonderful" at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London.

2006–2008: Film debut and ''Introducing Joss Stone'' era

Stone performed a medley of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with funk legend James Brown on BBC One's chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' on 1 July 2005. Stone collaborated with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and blues singer-guitarist Jonny Lang on a cover of U2's 1988 song "When Love Comes to Town" for Hancock's 2005 album ''Possibilities''. That same year, Stone was featured along with Sean Paul on Santana's "Cry Baby Cry", and worked with Patti LaBelle on a remake of the latter's 1985 song "Stir It Up" for the soundtrack to the Disney animated film ''Chicken Little''. She also collaborated with Lemar in 2006 on his third studio album, ''The Truth About Love'', on the track "Anniversary". On 5 February 2006, Stone joined Stevie Wonder, India.Arie, and John Legend during the Super Bowl XL pre-game ceremonies to perform a medley of Wonder's hits. Three days later, on 8 February, on the night of the 2006 Grammy Awards, she helped perform a medley of Sly & the Family Stone's hits alongside Legend, Ciara, Maroon 5, will.i.am, Robert Randolph, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry. Stone made her film debut in the fantasy adventure film ''Eragon'' (based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Christopher Paolini), directed by Stefen Fangmeier and released on 15 December 2006, playing the fortune teller Angela. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Stone shared the award for Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for her collaboration with John Legend and Van Hunt on their 2005 cover of Sly & the Family Stone's 1971 chart-topper "Family Affair".

Stone caused controversy at the 2007 BRIT Awards ceremony on 14 February 2007 while presenting the award for British Male Solo Artist (won by James Morrison). Speaking in a fake American accent, she gave a largely incoherent speech about Robbie Williams, who had been the target of earlier jokes made by host Russell Brand. Williams had been reported as going into rehabilitation that same week. As her speech continued, she made remarks about Brand, implying that he was heading for rehabilitation himself (while singing a passage of Amy Winehouse's hit "Rehab"). In response to the British media's reaction, Stone responded, "At the end of the day, I don't give a fuck if people have a problem with my accent. That's all I can say about it. The words I say do not change. If the way that it sounds is skew-wiff and you don't like it, don't listen. I'm not being a cruel person by sounding a different way. And I can't help it. I've been [in America working] since I was, like, 14." Stone, a vegetarian since birth—having been brought up as one by her parents — was photographed by Justin Borucki posing with a chicken in an advert for PETA in March 2007, whose tagline states, "I am Joss Stone and I am a vegetarian".

Stone began work on her third studio album, ''Introducing Joss Stone'', at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in May 2006. Released on 12 March 2007, the album was coordinated by A&R; Chris Anokute, produced by Raphael Saadiq, and included collaborations with Lauryn Hill, Common, and Joi. Virgin Records describes the album as "an electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B;, Motown girl-group harmonies, and hip-hop grooves". Stone herself describes it as "truly me. That's why I'm calling it ''Introducing Joss Stone''. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist." She also revealed on ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' that her break-up with Beau Dozier was a source of inspiration while writing ''Introducing Joss Stone''. The album debuted and peaked at number twelve on the UK Albums Chart, not managing to match the success of Stone's two previous albums. It nevertheless debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 selling 118,000 copies in its first week, becoming the highest debut for a British solo female artist on the U.S. chart, surpassing the record previously held by Amy Winehouse with ''Back to Black'' (which in turn would later be outdone by Leona Lewis, whose album ''Spirit'' debuted at number one the week of 26 April 2008).

"Tell Me 'Bout It", the album's lead single, debuted and peaked at number twenty-eight on the UK Singles Chart—where it stayed for three weeks only—, and peaked at number eighty-three on the U.S ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single, "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", a collaboration with rapper Common, failed to chart inside the UK top seventy-five, but made the top sixty-five of the U.S. Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. Stone and Common turned the single's music video into a Product Red, reverting 100% of the gains from copies of the video purchased from iTunes to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Stone is the first Product Red artist to do so. "Baby Baby Baby" was released digitally in December 2007 and physically in January 2008 as the third single. In support of the album, Stone embarked on a North American tour which began on 27 April at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut and ended on 13 June at the Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia, visiting sixteen cities in total including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, and Boston. Two months later, she went on a North American late-summer tour which kicked off on 27 August at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California and ended on 29 September at the Crossroads in Kansas City, Missouri, covering twelve cities—this time including Mexico City.

2009–present: ''Colour Me Free!'', ''LP1'' and ''SuperHeavy'' era

Stone was photographed by Canadian singer-guitarist and photographer Bryan Adams for Phonak's ''Hear the World'' initiative, whose main goal is to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss. "Being able to hear means that you can enjoy all the sounds of the world", she said. On 7 July 2007, Stone performed at the South African leg of the Live Earth concerts at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg, to promote awareness of global warming. She sang the ''Introducing Joss Stone'' tracks "Girl They Won't Believe It", "Headturner", "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", "Music", and "Tell Me 'bout It", as well as ''Mind, Body & Soul'''s "Right to Be Wrong" and "Gimme Shelter", the latter with Angélique Kidjo. Stone covered Nat King Cole's 1965 classic "L-O-V-E" for an advertising campaign for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance. On 29 November 2007, Stone joined Jeff Beck on a duet of The Impressions's 1965 song "People Get Ready" as part of his series of concerts at London's Ronnie Scott's, documented on the DVD ''Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's''. In order to raise the awareness of AIDS, Annie Lennox joined forces with twenty-three female acts (including Stone) and recorded the song "Sing", which was released on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2007, when Lennox performed at one of Nelson Mandela's 46664 concerts at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium. In mid-December 2007, Stone was named the new Flake girl to star in a series of television adverts for the Cadbury Schweppes product in the spring of 2008. According to the company, she is the first non-model to take the role.

In March 2008, Stone signed up for the role of a lesbian named Stephanie in the British romantic comedy ''Snappers''. In addition to acting, she produced the film's soundtrack. The film, also starring Chloe Howman, Caroline Quentin, and Bruce Jones, premiered at the English Riviera Comedy Film Festival in September 2008. Stone made her television debut portraying Henry VIII's fourth wife Anne of Cleves in the third season of Showtime's series ''The Tudors'', Owing to her surprise popularity with the show's fanbase, she reprised the role in the show's final season in 2010, appearing in two episodes.

Stone launched a legal battle in a bid to leave her record label, EMI, and free her of her current three-album deal with the record label in April 2008. Stone performed at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on 26 April 2008. She also performed "Right to Be Wrong" at the LA PRIDE 2008—produced by Christopher Street West, a non-profit organisation—in West Hollywood, California, on 7 June 2008. On 26 October 2008, Stone sang the British national anthem, ''God Save the Queen'', before the NFL match between the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints, held at Wembley Stadium, London. On 7 December 2008, Stone performed The Who's 1965 song "My Generation" on CBS's Kennedy Center Honors TV special at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., honouring Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. In 2010, Stone also appeared on Ringo Starr's album, ''Y Not'' on the song "Who's Your Daddy" in which she sang and co-wrote with the ex-Beatle; appeared on Jeff Beck's album, ''Emotion and Commotion'' on the songs "I Put A Spell On You" and "There's No Other Me". In late 2010, Stone's voice and likeness were used for the "Bond girl" character of Nicole Hunter, a jewellery designer and MI6 agent, in the video game ''James Bond 007: Blood Stone''. In addition to portraying the character, she also performed the game's theme song, "I'll Take It All", which was co-written and performed with Dave Stewart.

Stone's fourth studio album was written and recorded in about a week in Devon in early 2008. "I kind of woke up one morning and wanted to make an album", she says. "It's very, very raw. It's a bunch of musicians, writers and myself, and we're just jamming, basically." In promotion of the album, entitled ''Colour Me Free!'', Stone played concerts throughout the United Kingdom in February and March. Originally scheduled for release in April 2009, ''Colour Me Free!'' was finally released on 20 October 2009, after EMI delayed the album's release. Joss revealed that her record company also fought her about the original cover of her new album, calling it "offensive". It was changed to simple text and no picture of the singer on the American edition, the original cover was used on the other editions worldwide. In late August 2010, it was reported that Stone had left EMI and formed her own independent record label, Stone'd Records. EMI announced in late December that they would be releasing a greatest hits album, ''Super Duper Hits: The Best of Joss Stone''. The compilation will be released on September 23, 2011. In 2010, She collaborated with Puerto Rican recording artist Ricky Martin for "The Best Thing About Me Is You", and peaked at number 74 on the U.S ''Billboard Hot 100'' and which topped the ''Hot Latin Songs'' and ''Latin Pop Songs'' chart, this was Stone' first number one on all two charts, which also made her the first British of non-Hispanic origin to reach #1 on the ''Hot Latin Tracks'' and ''Latin Pop Songs'' chart. On 14 June 2011, police arrested two men near Stone's home in Cullompton, Mid Devon, England, for plotting to rob and murder her.

Stone partnered with Surfdog Records to release ''LP1'' on July 26, 2011, through her own label Stone'd Records. The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in six days, where Stone co-wrote and co-produced the album with Eurythmics co-founder, David Stewart The lead single, "Somehow", and was released on June 24, 2011. Stone also joined the supergroup SuperHeavy which was formed by Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones, together with Dave Stewart, Damian Marley, youngest son of Bob Marley, and the Indian musician and producer A.R. Rahman. The album was recorded at Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles and will be released in 20 September 2011 by A&M; Records. The debut single, "Miracle Worker", was released on 19 July 2011.

Voice and live performances

Stone possesses a wide vocal range that has been classified as both contralto and mezzo-soprano by reviewers, and is noted for its soulful quality. She is also well-known for her trademark barefoot performances.

Discography

''The Soul Sessions'' (2003)

''Mind Body & Soul'' (2004)

''Introducing Joss Stone'' (2007)

''Colour Me Free!'' (2009)

''LP1'' (2011)

Filmography

''Snappers'' ''The Funeral Planner'' ''American Dad!'' ''Good Luck Charlie''

colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Film
Year	Film	Role	! Notes
2006	Eragon (film)>Eragon''	Angela (Inheritance)>Angela
2008	|	Stephanie	First Lead Role
2010	|	Eve Gardner	(Video short)
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2009–2010	''The Tudors''	Anne of Cleves
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Television guest appearances
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2005	''American Dreams''	Singer in the Lair
2009	|	Unattractive Girl #1/Hooker #2	"Stan's Night Out" (episode 20, season 4)
2010	|	Mary-Jane	Special guest appearance
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Video game appearances
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2010	''James Bond 007: Blood Stone''	Nicole Hunter (voice)

Awards

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Stone has received one award from five nominations.

|- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| 2007 || Joss Stone || Best New Artist || |- | "You Had Me" || Best Female Pop Vocal Performance || |- | ''Mind Body & Soul'' || Best Pop Vocal Album || |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2007 ||"Family Affair" (with John Legend and Van Hunt) || Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals || |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"| 2011||"I Put a Spell on You" (with Jeff Beck) || Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || |- |}

Other awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
	Mercury Prize	Album of the Year	''The Soul Sessions''
	Newcomer of the Year
HUMO's Pop Poll de Luxe	Best International Female Singer
	rowspan="3"	British Female Solo Artist
British Urban Act
British Breakthrough Act
	Best UK Act of the Year
	London's Favourite UK Album	''Mind Body & Soul''
2007	MOBO Award	Best UK Female	Joss Stone
2011	Game Audio Network Guild Award	Best Original Vocal - Pop	"I'll Take It All"

References

External links

Official website

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1987 births Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Animal rights advocates Category:English blues singers Category:English child singers Category:English contraltos Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English mezzo-sopranos Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English soul singers Category:English television actors Category:English vegetarians Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Dover Category:People from Mid Devon (district) Category:Virgin Records artists

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Janis Joplin
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Janis Lyn Joplin
Born	January 19, 1943 Port Arthur, Texas, United States
Died	October 04, 1970 Los Angeles, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, autoharp, harmonica, percussion
Genre	Blues-rock, psychedelic rock, blues, hard rock, soul, country, folk
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, painter, dancer
Years active	1962–1970
Label	Columbia
Associated acts	Big Brother & the Holding CompanyKozmic Blues BandFull Tilt Boogie Band The Grateful Dead
Website	officialjanis.com }}

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band. At the height of her career she was known as ''The Queen of Rock and Roll'' as well as ''The Queen of Psychedelic Soul''. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Early life: 1943–1965

Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 19, 1943, to Dorothy (née East) Joplin (1913–1998), a registrar at a business college, and her husband, Seth Joplin (1910–1987), an engineer at Texaco. She had two younger siblings, Michael and Laura. The family attended the Church of Christ. The Joplins felt that Janis always needed more attention than their other children, with her mother stating, "She was unhappy and unsatisfied without [receiving a lot of attention]. The normal rapport wasn't adequate."

As a teenager, she befriended a group of outcasts, one of whom had albums by African-American blues artists Bessie Smith and Leadbelly, whom Joplin later credited with influencing her decision to become a singer. She began singing in the local choir and expanded her listening to blues singers such as Odetta and Big Mama Thornton.

Primarily a painter while still in school, she first began singing blues and folk music with friends. While at Thomas Jefferson High School, she stated that she was mostly shunned. Joplin was quoted as saying, "I was a misfit. I read, I painted, I didn't hate niggers." As a teen, she became overweight and her skin broke out so badly she was left with deep scars which required dermabrasion. Other kids at high school would routinely taunt her and call her names like "pig," "freak" or "creep." Among her classmates were G. W. Bailey and Jimmy Johnson.

Joplin graduated from high school in 1960 and attended Lamar State College of Technology in Beaumont, Texas, during the summer and later the University of Texas at Austin, though she did not complete her studies. The campus newspaper ''The Daily Texan'' ran a profile of her in the issue dated July 27, 1962 headlined "She Dares To Be Different." The article began, "She goes barefooted when she feels like it, wears Levi's to class because they're more comfortable, and carries her Autoharp with her everywhere she goes so that in case she gets the urge to break into song it will be handy. Her name is Janis Joplin."

Cultivating a rebellious manner, Joplin styled herself in part after her female blues heroines and, in part, after the Beat poets. Her first song recorded on tape, at the home of a fellow student in December 1962, was "What Good Can Drinkin' Do". She left Texas for San Francisco ("just to get away from Texas," she said, "because my head was in a much different place") in January 1963, living in North Beach and later Haight-Ashbury. In 1964, Joplin and future Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen recorded a number of blues standards, further accompanied by Margareta Kaukonen on typewriter (as percussion instrument). This session included seven tracks: "Typewriter Talk," "Trouble In Mind," "Kansas City Blues," "Hesitation Blues", "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out", "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" and "Long Black Train Blues," and was later released as the bootleg album ''The Typewriter Tape.''

Around this time her drug use increased, and she acquired a reputation as a "speed freak" and occasional heroin user. She also used other psychoactive drugs and was a heavy drinker throughout her career; her favorite beverage was Southern Comfort.

In the spring of 1965, Joplin's friends, noticing the physical effects of her amphetamine habit (she was described as "skeletal" and "emaciated"), persuaded her to return to Port Arthur, Texas. In May 1965, Joplin's friends threw her a bus-fare party so she could return home. Back in Port Arthur, she changed her lifestyle. She avoided drugs and alcohol, began wearing relatively modest dresses, adopted a beehive hairdo, and enrolled as a sociology major at Lamar University in nearby Beaumont, Texas. During her year at Lamar University, she commuted to Austin to perform solo, accompanying herself on guitar. One of her performances was reviewed in the ''Austin American-Statesman''. Joplin became engaged to a man who visited her, wearing a blue serge suit, to ask her father for her hand in marriage, but the man terminated plans for the marriage soon afterwards.

Big Brother and the Holding Company: 1966–1968

In 1966, Joplin's bluesy vocal style attracted the attention of the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, a band that had gained some renown among the nascent hippie community in Haight-Ashbury. She was recruited to join the group by Chet Helms, a promoter who had known her in Texas and who at the time was managing Big Brother. Helms brought her back to San Francisco and Joplin joined Big Brother on June 4, 1966. Her first public performance with them was at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. In June she was photographed at an outdoor concert that celebrated the summer solstice. The image, which was later published in two books by David Dalton, shows her before she relapsed into drugs. Due to persistent persuading by keyboardist and close friend Stephen Ryder, Joplin avoided drug use for several weeks, enjoining bandmate Dave Getz to promise that using needles would not be allowed in their rehearsal space or in her apartment or in the homes of her bandmates whom she visited. When a visitor injected drugs in front of Joplin and Getz, Joplin angrily reminded Getz that he had broken his promise. A San Francisco concert from that summer was recorded and released in the 1984 album ''Cheaper Thrills''. In July all five bandmates and guitarist James Gurley's wife Nancy moved to a house in Lagunitas, California where they lived communally. They often partied with the Grateful Dead, who lived less than two miles away.

On August 23, 1966, during a four week engagement in Chicago, the group signed a deal with independent label Mainstream Records. Joplin relapsed into drinking when she and her bandmates (except for Peter Albin) joined some "alcoholic hipsters," as Joplin biographer Ellis Amburn described them, in Chicago. The band recorded tracks in a Chicago recording studio, but the label owner Bob Shad refused to pay their airfare back to San Francisco. Shortly after four of the five musicians drove from Chicago to Northern California with very little money (Albin traveled by plane), they returned to Lagunitas. It was there that Joplin relapsed into intravenous drug use with the encouragement of James' wife Nancy Gurley. Three years later Joplin, by then using a different band, was informed of Nancy's death from an overdose.

One of Joplin's earliest major performances in 1967 was the Mantra-Rock Dance, a musical event held on January 29 at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. Janis Joplin and Big Brother performed there along with the Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami, Allen Ginsberg, Moby Grape, and Grateful Dead, donating proceeds to the Krishna temple.

In early 1967, Joplin met Country Joe McDonald of the group Country Joe and the Fish. The pair lived together as a couple for a few months. Joplin and Big Brother began playing clubs in San Francisco, at the Fillmore West, Winterland and the Avalon Ballroom. They also played at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, as well as in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, the Psychedelic Supermarket in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Golden Bear Club in Huntington Beach, California.

The band's debut album was released by Columbia Records in August 1967, shortly after the group's breakthrough appearance in June at the Monterey Pop Festival. Two songs from Big Brother's set at Monterey were filmed. ''Combination of the Two'' and a version of Big Mama Thornton's ''Ball and Chain'' appear in the DVD box set of D.A. Pennebaker's documentary ''Monterey Pop'' released by The Criterion Collection. The film captured Cass Elliot, singer in The Mamas and the Papas, seated in the audience silently mouthing "Wow! That's really heavy!" during Joplin's performance of ''Ball and Chain''. Only ''Ball and Chain'' was included in the film that was released to theaters nationwide in 1969 and shown on television in the 1970s. Those who did not attend Monterey Pop saw the band's performance of ''Combination of the Two'' for the first time in 2002 when The Criterion Collection released the box set.

After switching managers from Chet Helms to Julius Karpen in 1966, the group signed with top artist manager Albert Grossman, whom they met for the first time at Monterey Pop. For the remainder of 1967, Big Brother performed mainly in California. On February 16, 1968, the group began its first East Coast tour in Philadelphia, and the following day gave their first performance in New York City at the Anderson Theater. On April 7, 1968, the last day of their East Coast tour, Joplin and Big Brother performed with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop at the "Wake for Martin Luther King, Jr." concert in New York.

''Live at Winterland '68'', recorded at the Winterland Ballroom on April 12 and 13, 1968, features Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company at the height of their mutual career working through a selection of tracks from their albums. A recording became available to the public for the first time in 1998 when Sony Music Entertainment released the compact disc.

During the spring of 1968, Joplin and Big Brother made their nationwide television debut on ''The Dick Cavett Show'', an ABC daytime variety show hosted by Dick Cavett. Shortly thereafter, network employees wiped the videotape. In later years she made three appearances on the primetime Cavett program, and all were preserved. Throughout 1968, the band was billed as "Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company," although the media coverage given to Joplin incurred resentment among the other members of the band. The other members of Big Brother thought that Joplin was on a "star trip," while others were telling Joplin that Big Brother was a terrible band and that she ought to dump them.

''TIME'' magazine called Joplin "probably the most powerful singer to emerge from the white rock movement," and Richard Goldstein, wrote for the May 1968 issue of ''Vogue'' magazine that Joplin was "the most staggering leading woman in rock... she slinks like tar, scowls like war... clutching the knees of a final stanza, begging it not to leave... Janis Joplin can sing the chic off any listener."

''Cheap Thrills''

For her first major studio recording, Janis played a major role in the arrangement and production of the recordings that would become Big Brother And The Holding Company's second album, ''Cheap Thrills''. During the recording, Joplin was the said to be the first person to enter the studio and the last person to leave. The album featured a cover design by counterculture cartoonist Robert Crumb. Although ''Cheap Thrills'' sounded as if it consisted of concert recordings, only ''Ball and Chain'' was actually recorded in front of a paying audience; the rest of the tracks were studio recordings. The album had a raw quality, including the sound of a cocktail glass breaking and the broken shards being swept away during the song ''Turtle Blues''. Together with the premiere of the documentary film ''Monterey Pop'' at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on December 26, 1968, the album launched Joplin's successful, albeit short, musical career.

''Cheap Thrills'' reached #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart eight weeks after its release, remaining for eight (nonconsecutive) weeks. The album was certified gold at release and sold over a million copies in the first month of its release. The lead single from the album, "Piece of My Heart" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1968.

The band made another East Coast tour during July–August 1968, performing at the Columbia Records convention in Puerto Rico and the Newport Folk Festival. After returning to San Francisco for two hometown shows at the Palace of Fine Arts Festival on August 31 and September 1, Joplin announced that she would be leaving Big Brother. The group continued touring through the fall and Joplin gave her last official performance with Big Brother at a Family Dog benefit on December 1, 1968.

Solo career: 1969–1970

Kozmic Blues Band

After splitting from Big Brother And The Holding Company, Joplin formed a new backup group, the Kozmic Blues Band. The band was influenced by the Stax-Volt Rhythm and Blues bands of the 1960s, as exemplified by Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays. The Stax-Volt R&B; sound was typified by the use of horns and had a more bluesy, funky, soul, pop-oriented sound than most of the hard-rock psychedelic bands of the period.

By early 1969, Joplin was allegedly shooting at least $200 worth of heroin per day, although efforts were made to keep her clean during the recording of ''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!''. Gabriel Mekler, who produced the ''Kozmic Blues'', told publicist-turned-biographer Myra Friedman after Joplin's death that the singer had lived in his house during the June 1969 recording sessions at his insistence so he could keep her away from drugs and her drug-using friends.

The Kozmic Blues Band performed on many television shows with Joplin. On one episode of ''The Dick Cavett Show'' they performed ''Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)'' as well as ''To Love Somebody''. As Cavett interviewed Joplin, she admitted that she had a terrible time touring in Europe, claiming that audiences there are very uptight and don't get down. She also revealed that she was a big fan of the then unknown Tina Turner, saying that she was an incredible singer, dancer and show woman.

''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!''

The Kozmic Blues album, released in September 1969, was certified gold later that year but did not match the success of ''Cheap Thrills''. Reviews of the new group were mixed. Some music critics, including Ralph J. Gleason of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', were negative. Gleason wrote that the new band was a "drag" and that Joplin should "scrap" her new band and "go right back to being a member of Big Brother...(if they'll have her)." Other reviewers, such as reporter Carl Bernstein of the ''Washington Post'' generally ignored the band's flaws and devoted entire articles to celebrating the singer's magic. ''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!'' reached #6 on the Billboard 200 weeks after it's release.

Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band toured North America and Europe throughout 1969, appearing at Woodstock in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 17. Her friend Peggy Caserta claimed in a 1973 book that she encouraged Joplin to perform at the festival. Joplin informed her band that they would be performing at the concert as if it were just another gig. When she and the band flew by helicopter from a nearby motel to the festival site and Joplin saw the enormous crowd she instantly became incredibly nervous and giddy. The documentary film of the festival that was released to theaters the following year includes, on the left side of a split screen (filmmaking), 37 seconds of footage of Joplin and Caserta walking toward her dressing room tent. By most accounts, Woodstock was not a happy affair for Joplin. Faced with a ten hour wait after arriving at the backstage area, she shot heroin with Caserta and was drinking alcohol, so by the time she hit the stage, she was "three sheets to the wind." On stage her voice became slightly hoarse and wheezy and she found it hard to dance. She pulled through, however, and the audience was so pleased they cheered her on for an encore, causing her to perform ''Ball and Chain'' twice. Joplin was unhappy with her performance and blamed Caserta. Her singing was not included in the documentary film or the hit soundtrack, although the 25th anniversary director's cut of ''Woodstock'' includes her performance of ''Work Me, Lord''.

In addition to Woodstock, Joplin also had problems four months later at Madison Square Garden where, as she told rock journalist David Dalton, the audience watched and listened to "every note [she sang] with 'Is she gonna make it?' in their eyes." In her interview with Dalton she added that she felt most comfortable performing at small, cheap venues in San Francisco that were associated with the counterculture. At the time of this June 1970 interview she already had performed in the Bay Area for what turned out to be the last time.

Sam Andrew, the lead guitarist who had left Big Brother with Joplin in December 1968 to form her back-up band, quit in late summer 1969 and returned to Big Brother without her. At the end of the year, the Kozmic Blues Band broke up. Their final gig with Joplin was at Madison Square Garden in New York City on the night of December 19–20, 1969.

Full Tilt Boogie Band

In February 1970, Joplin traveled to Brazil, where she stopped her drug and alcohol use. She was accompanied on vacation there by her friend Linda Gravenites, who had designed the singer's stage costumes from 1967 to 1969. Joplin was romanced by a fellow American tourist named David (George) Niehaus, who was traveling around the world. A Joplin biography written by her sister Laura said, "David was an upper-middle-class Cincinnati kid who had studied communications at Notre Dame. ... [and] had joined the Peace Corps after college and worked in a small village in Turkey. ... He tried law school, but when he met Janis he was taking time off." Niehaus and Joplin were photographed by the press at Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Gravenites also took color photographs of the two during their Brazilian vacation. According to Joplin biographer Ellis Amburn, in Gravenites' snapshots they "look like a carefree, happy, healthy young couple having a tremendously good time." ''Rolling Stone'' magazine interviewed Joplin during an international phone call, quoting her, "I'm going into the jungle with a big bear of a beatnik named David Niehaus. I finally remembered I don't have to be on stage twelve months a year. I've decided to go and dig some other jungles for a couple of weeks." Amburn added in 1992, "Janis was trying to kick heroin in Brazil, and one of the nicest things about George was that he wasn't into drugs."

Joplin began using heroin again when she returned to the United States. Her relationship with Niehaus soon ended because of his witnessing her shooting drugs at her new home in Larkspur, California, her relationship with Peggy Caserta, who also was an intravenous addict, and her refusal to take some time off work and travel the world with him. Around this time she formed her new band, the Full Tilt Boogie Band. The band was composed mostly of young Canadian musicians and featured an organ, but no horn section. Joplin took a more active role in putting together the Full Tilt Boogie Band than she did with her prior group. She was quoted as saying, "It's ''my'' band. Finally it's ''my'' band!"

The Full Tilt Boogie Band began touring in May 1970. Joplin remained quite happy with her new group, which received mostly positive feedback from both her fans and the critics. Prior to beginning a summer tour with Full Tilt Boogie, she performed in a reunion with Big Brother at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on April 4, 1970. Recordings from this concert were included in an in-concert album released posthumously in 1972. She again appeared with Big Brother on April 12 at Winterland where she and Big Brother were reported to be in excellent form. By the time she began touring with Full Tilt Boogie, Joplin told people she was drug-free, but her drinking increased.

From June 28 to July 4, 1970, Joplin and Full Tilt joined the all-star ''Festival Express'' tour through Canada, performing alongside the Grateful Dead, Delaney and Bonnie, Rick Danko and The Band, Eric Andersen and Ian and Sylvia. They played concerts in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary. Footage of her performance of the song ''Tell Mama'' in Calgary became an MTV video in the early 1980s and was included on the 1982 ''Farewell Song'' album. The audio of other Festival Express performances was included on that 1972 Joplin ''In Concert'' album. Video of the performances was included on the ''Festival Express'' DVD.

In the ''Tell Mama'' video shown on MTV in the 1980s, Joplin wore a psychedelically colored loose-fitting costume and feathers in her hair. This was her standard stage costume in the spring and summer of 1970. She chose the new costumes after her friend and designer, Linda Gravenites (whom Joplin had praised in the May 1968 issue of ''Vogue''), cut ties with Joplin shortly after their return from Brazil, due largely to Joplin's continued use of heroin.

During the ''Festival Express'' tour, Joplin was accompanied by ''Rolling Stone'' writer David Dalton, who would later write several articles and a book on Joplin. She told Dalton:

''Pearl''

Among her last public appearances were two broadcasts of ''The Dick Cavett Show''. In a June 25, 1970, appearance, she announced that she would attend her ten-year high-school class reunion. When asked if she had been popular in school, she admitted that when in high school, her schoolmates "laughed me out of class, out of town and out of the state." In the August 3, 1970, Cavett broadcast, Joplin referred to her upcoming performance at the Festival for Peace to be held at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, on August 6, 1970.

Joplin attended the reunion on August 14, accompanied by fellow musician and friend Bob Neuwirth, road manager John Cooke, and her sister Laura, but it reportedly proved to be an unhappy experience for her. Joplin held a press conference in Port Arthur during her reunion visit. Interviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' journalist Chet Flippo, she was reported to wear enough jewelry for a "Babylonian whore." When asked by a reporter during the reunion if Joplin entertained at Thomas Jefferson High School when she was a student there, Joplin replied, "Only when I walked down the aisles." Joplin denigrated Port Arthur and the people who'd humiliated her a decade earlier in high school.

Joplin's last public performance, with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, took place on August 12, 1970, at the Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. A positive review appeared on the front page of ''The Harvard Crimson'' newspaper despite the facts that Full Tilt Boogie performed with makeshift sound amplifiers after their regular equipment was stolen in Boston and Joplin was reportedly so intoxicated when she took the stage, she was only able to perform two songs.

During late August, September and early October 1970, Joplin and her band rehearsed and recorded a new album in Los Angeles with producer Paul A. Rothchild, who had produced recordings for The Doors. Although Joplin died before all the tracks were fully completed, there was still enough usable material to compile a long-playing record.

The result of the sessions was the posthumously released ''Pearl'' (1971). It became the biggest selling album of her career and featured her biggest hit single, a cover of Kris Kristofferson's ''Me and Bobby McGee''. Kristofferson had been Joplin's lover in the spring of 1970. The opening track ''Move Over'' was written by Joplin, reflecting the way that she felt men treated women. Also included was the social commentary of the a cappella ''Mercedes Benz'', written by Joplin, Bob Neuwirth and beat poet Michael McClure. The track on the album features the first and only take that Joplin recorded. The track ''Buried Alive In The Blues'', to which Joplin had been scheduled to add her vocals on the day she was found dead, was included as an instrumental. In 2003, ''Pearl'' was ranked #122 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Joplin checked into the Landmark Motor Hotel on August 24, 1970, which was located in Hollywood Heights near Sunset Sound Recorders where she began rehearsing and recording her album. During the sessions, Joplin continued a relationship with Seth Morgan, a 21-year-old UC Berkeley student, cocaine dealer and future novelist who had visited her new home in Larkspur, California several times in July and August. She and Morgan became engaged to be married in early September even though he visited Sunset Sound Recorders for just eight of the many sessions when Joplin worked, much to her dismay. Much later Morgan told biographer Myra Friedman that as a non-musician he felt excluded while in the studio. He stayed at Joplin's Larkspur home for days at a time while Joplin stayed alone at the Landmark, although several times she visited Larkspur to be with him and to check the progress of renovations she was having done on the house.

Peggy Caserta claimed in her 1973 book ''Going Down With Janis'' that she and Joplin had decided mutually in April 1970 to stay away from each other to avoid enabling each other's drug use. Caserta, a former Delta Airlines stewardess and owner of a clothing boutique in the Haight Ashbury, said that by September 1970 she had resorted to smuggling marijuana throughout California and she checked into the Landmark that month because it attracted drug users. Joplin learned of Caserta's presence in Los Angeles and staying at the same hotel from a heroin dealer who made deliveries to the Landmark. Joplin begged Caserta for heroin and within a few days became a regular customer of that heroin dealer.

Joplin's manager Albert Grossman and his assistant Myra Friedman had taken part in an intervention with Joplin the previous winter. While they worked at Grossman's New York office during the Pearl sessions, they knew Joplin was staying at a Los Angeles hotel but did not know it attracted drug users and dealers.

Death

The last recordings Joplin completed were on October 1, 1970 — ''Mercedes Benz'' and a birthday greeting for John Lennon, the Dale Evans ''Happy Trails''. Lennon, whose birthday was October 9, later told Dick Cavett that her taped greeting arrived at his home after her death. On Saturday, October 3, Joplin visited Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles to listen to the instrumental track for Nick Gravenites' song ''Buried Alive in the Blues'' prior to recording the vocal track, scheduled for the next day. At some point on Saturday, she learned by telephone that Seth Morgan was staying at her home and using her pool table with other women he had met that day. In the studio she was heard expressing anger about this and about Morgan having broken a promise to visit her the previous night, although she also expressed joy about the progress of the sessions. She and band member Ken Pearson went from the studio to Barney's Beanery for drinks. After midnight, Joplin drove him and a male fan who tagged along to the Landmark Motor Hotel.

When Joplin failed to show up at Sunset Sound Recorders for the next recording session by Sunday afternoon, producer Paul A. Rothchild became concerned. Full Tilt Boogie's road manager, John Cooke, drove to the Landmark. He saw Joplin's psychedelically painted Porsche 356C Cabriolet in the parking lot. Upon entering her room, he found her dead on the floor beside her bed. The official cause of death was an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol. Cooke believes that Joplin had accidentally been given heroin which was much more potent than normal, as several of her dealer's other customers also overdosed that week. Peggy Caserta admitted that, like Seth Morgan, she, too, had promised to visit Joplin at the Landmark on Friday night, October 2 and had stood her up in order to party with drug users who were staying at another Los Angeles hotel. According to ''Going Down With Janis'', Caserta learned from the dealer who sold heroin to her and Joplin that on Saturday Joplin expressed sadness about two friends having abandoned her the previous night.

Joplin was cremated in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Mortuary in Los Angeles; her ashes were scattered from a plane into the Pacific Ocean and along Stinson Beach. The only funeral service was a private affair held at Pierce Brothers and attended by Joplin's parents and maternal aunt.

Joplin's will funded $2,500 to throw a wake party in the event of her demise. Around 200 guests received invitations to the party that read, “Drinks are on Pearl,” a reference to Joplin’s nickname. The party, which took place October 26, 1970, at the Lion's Share, located in San Anselmo, California, was attended by Joplin's sister Laura, fiancé, Seth Morgan and close friends, including tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle, Bob Gordon, and road manager John Cooke. Brownies laced with hashish were passed around.

Legacy

Joplin's death in October 1970 at the age of 27 stunned her fans and shocked the music world. Her death was coupled with the fact that another rock icon, Jimi Hendrix, had died sixteen days earlier in September. Music historian Tom Moon wrote that Joplin had "a devastatingly original voice." Music columnist Jon Pareles of the ''New York Times'' wrote that Joplin as an artist was "overpowering and deeply vulnerable." Author Megan Terry claimed that Joplin was the female version of Elvis Presley in the ability to captivate an audience.

In 1973, a book about Joplin by her publicist Myra Friedman was excerpted in many newspapers. At the same time, ''Going Down With Janis'' by Peggy Caserta attracted a lot of attention with its opening line, which graphically referred to her performing a sex act with Joplin while they were stoned on heroin in September 1970. Joplin's bandmate Sam Andrew much later described Caserta as "halfway between a groupie and a friend." According to an early 1990s statement by a close friend of Caserta who also knew Joplin, Caserta's book ''Going Down With Janis'' angered the Los Angeles heroin dealer she described in detail to her readers, including the make and model of his car. A "carful of dope dealers," wrote Ellis Amburn, visited, in 1973, a Los Angeles lesbian bar that Caserta had been frequenting since Joplin was alive. Amburn quoted Caserta's friend Kim Chappell, who happened to be in the alley behind the bar: "I was stabbed because, when Peggy's book came out, her dealer, the same one who'd given Janis her last fix, didn't like it that he was referred to and was out to get Peggy. He couldn't find her, so he went for her lover. When they realized who I was, they felt that my death would also hit Peggy, and so they stabbed me." Despite being "stabbed three times in the chest, puncturing both lungs," Chappell eventually recovered.

According to biographers Alice Echols and Myra Friedman, Peggy Caserta was one of many friends of Joplin who did not become clean and sober until a very long time after the singer's death, and others died from overdoses. One of her Big Brother bandmates got clean and sober as late as 1984. Caserta survived "a near-fatal OD in December 1995," wrote Echols. In 2000, Caserta appeared on-camera as a major source for a segment about Joplin on 20/20 (US television series).

Joplin's extraordinary success as a pioneer in a male-dominated rock industry of the late 1960s was unprecedented. Joplin, along with Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane, opened opportunities into the rock music business for future female singers. Stevie Nicks commented that after seeing Joplin perform, "I knew that a little bit of my destiny had changed. I would search to find that connection that I had seen between Janis and her audience. In a blink of an eye she changed my life."

Joplin's body art, with a wristlet and a small heart on her left breast, by the San Francisco tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle, is taken as a seminal moment in the tattoo revolution and was an early moment in the popular culture's acceptance of tattoos as art. Another trademark was her flamboyant hair styles, often including colored streaks and accessories such as scarves, beads and feathers. When in New York City, Joplin, often in the company of actor Michael Pollard, frequented Limbo on St. Marks Place. The performer, well known to the store's employees, made a practice of putting aside vintage and other one-of-a-kind garments she favored on stage and off.

Leonard Cohen's 1974 song "Chelsea Hotel #2" is about Joplin. Likewise, lyricist Robert Hunter has commented that Jerry Garcia's "Birdsong" from his first solo album, ''Garcia'', is about Joplin and the end of her suffering through death. Mimi Farina's composition "In the Quiet Morning", most famously covered by Joan Baez on her 1972 ''Come from the Shadows'' album, was a tribute to Joplin.

The 1979 film ''The Rose'' was loosely based on Joplin's life. Originally titled ''Pearl'', after Joplin's nickname, and the title of her last album, it was fictionalized after her family declined to allow the producers the rights to her story. Bette Midler earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

In 1988, the Janis Joplin Memorial, with an original bronze, multi-image sculpture of Joplin by Douglas Clark, was dedicated in Port Arthur, Texas.

Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. In November 2009, the Hall of Fame and museum honored her as part of its annual American Music Masters Series. Among the artifacts at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum Exhibition are Joplin's scarf and necklaces, her 1965 Porsche 356 Cabriolet with psychedelically designed painting, and a sheet of LSD blotting paper designed by Robert Crumb, designer of the ''Cheap Thrills'' cover. She was the honoree at the Rock Hall's American Music Master concert and lecture series for 2009.

In the late 1990s, the musical play ''Love, Janis'' was created with input from Janis's younger sister Laura plus Big Brother guitarist Sam Andrew, with an aim to take it to Off Broadway. Opening in the summer of 2001 and scheduled for only a few weeks of performances, the show won acclaim and packed houses and was held over several times, the demanding role of the singing Janis attracting rock vocalists from relative unknowns to pop stars Laura Branigan and Beth Hart. A national tour followed.

There have been many attempts at making a film about Joplin. On June 13, 2010, producer Wyck Godfrey said Amy Adams starred in director Fernando Meirelles' biographical drama, titled ''Janis Joplin: Get It While You Can''. Previous attempts have included ''Piece Of My Heart'', which was to star Renée Zellweger or Brittany Murphy; ''The Gospel According To Janis'', with director Penelope Spheeris and starring either Zooey Deschanel or P!nk; and an untitled film thought to be an adaptation of Laura Joplin's Off-Broadway play about her sister, with the show's star, Laura Theodore, attached.

Joplin had a profound influence on many singers. Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine spoke of Joplins impact on her own musical prowess in an interview for ''Why Music Matters'' in a commercial against piracy:

Discography

; Big Brother and the Holding Company

! Title !! Release date !! Label !! Notes
	1967	Mainstream Records
''Big Brother and the Holding Company''	1967?	Columbia	Contains 2 extra single tracks
''Big Brother and the Holding Company''	1967, CD 1999		Contains 2 extra single tracks
	1968
''Cheap Thrills''	1968, CD 1999		Contains 4 extra tracks
''Live at Winterland '68''	1998		ASIN: B000007TSP

; Kozmic Blues Band

! Title !! Release date !! Label !! Notes
''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!''	1969
''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!''	1969, CD 1999		Contains 3 extra tracks

; Full Tilt Boogie Band

! Title !! Release date !! Label !! Notes
	1971		posthumous, 4x Multi-Platinum RIAA
''Pearl''	1971, CD unknown date
''Pearl''	1971, CD 1999		Contains 4 extra tracks
''Pearl''	1971, 2CD 2005		CD1 – 6 other extra tracksCD2 – full selection from The Festival Express Tour, 3 venues

; Big Brother & the Holding Company / Full Tilt Boogie

! Title !! Release date !! Label !! Notes
	1972		ASIN: B0000024Y7

; Later collections

! Title !! Release date !! Label !! Notes
''Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits''	1973		ASIN B00000K2W1, 7x Multi-Platinum RIAA
	1975
''Anthology''	1980		2 discs
''Farewell Song''	1983	Columbia Records	ASIN: B000W44S8E
''Cheaper Thrills''	1984	Fan Club	ASIN: B000LYA9X8
	1993	Columbia Legacy	3 discs – ASIN: B00000286P
18 Essential Songs	1995	Columbia Legacy	ASIN: B000002B1A, Gold RIAA
''The Collection''	1995	3 Discs	ASIN: B000BM6ATW
''Live at Woodstock: August 19, 1969''	1999
''Box of Pearls''	1999		5 Discs – ASIN: B0009YNSK6
''Super Hits''	2000	Sony	ASIN: B00004T1E6
''Love, Janis''	2001	Sony	ASIN: B00005EBIN
''Essential Janis Joplin''	2003	Sony	ASIN: B00007MB6Y
''Very Best of Janis Joplin''	2007	Import	ASIN: B000026A35
''The Woodstock Experience''	2009	Legacy Recordings

References

Further reading

Amburn, Ellis. ''Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin: A Biography''. NY: Warner Books, 1992. ISBN 0-446-39506-4.

Caserta, Peggy. ''Going Down with Janis: Janis Joplin's Intimate Story''. Dell: 1974. ASIN: B000NSBNMI.

Dalton, David. ''Piece of my Heart: A Portrait of Janis Joplin''. NY: Da Capo Press, 1991. ISBN 0-306-80446-8.

Echols, Alice. ''Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin''. NY: Henry Holt, 1999. ISBN 0-8050-5394-8.

Friedman, Myra. (1973). ''Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin''. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-00160-2.

ISBN 1-878923-08-0

Joplin, Laura. ''Love, Janis''. NY: Villard Books, 1992. ISBN 1-888358-08-4.

Stieven-Taylor, Alison. ''Rock Chicks''. Sydney: Rockpool Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-921295-06-5.

External links

Biography at The Handbook of Texas Online

JohnGilmore.com: Spotlight on Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues - janisjoplin.net

Re-introducing Janis Joplin - slideshow by ''The New York Times''

Artwork created by Janis Joplin, from her family

Artistic performances

''Raise Your Hand'' Ed Sullivan Show - March 16, 1969

''Work Me Lord'' Woodstock - August 18, 1969

''Half Moon'' Dick Cavett Show - August 3, 1970

Category:1943 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Alcohol-related deaths Category:American blues singers Category:American child singers Category:American female singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rock singers Category:American soul musicians Category:Drug-related deaths Category:Big Brother and the Holding Company members Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths by heroin overdose in California Category:Female rock singers Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Musicians from Texas Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Beaumont, Texas Category:People from Port Arthur, Texas Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni Category:Lamar University alumni

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