Janis Joplin is arguably the greatest white female singer in the history of rock and roll. She is fondly remembered for her loud, brashly voice and wild stage persona. Born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis spent the early years of her life in this gloomy town yearning for something more than marrying a high school sweetheart and having half a dozen children.

After graduating high school, Joplin enrolled in Lamar State College of Technology. Joplin did not graduate from Lamar and instead headed off to LA to see if she could pass the secretary exam, so instead she became a rock and roll star. Finally out of Texas, Joplin was captivated by the intensity and excitement of the social scene in California. One could say that the success of Big Brother and the Holding Company catapulted Joplin to stardom but some would argue that Janis was destined for fame.

Joplin challenged traditional feminine ideologies with her openness about sex. Man or woman, black or white, Janis believed that sex should be less limiting than the rigid American norm of her day. Joplin was also famous for her wild clothing style. In fact her unique dressing and wild persona on stage eventually developed into a character called Pearl.

Pearl was Janis’s alter-ego. Big Brother and the Holding company proved to be too restricting to Janis as an artist and she broke away making a solo career. Janis Joplin was unique and intriguing. She also changed the face of rock and roll. Traditionally known as a white male club, Joplin exploded onto the scene paving the way for other female rock and roll stars.

On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin died of a drug over dose. Joplin had received a rare batch of pure heroin in her hotel room. Her thirst for booze really caused her to overdose. Janis died only two weeks after Jimi Hendrix (both had played together at Woodstock only a year earlier). Joplin dies just before the release of her new album Pearl…she too was only 27.