Rock and Roll is no longer a man’s game. Joan Jett, The Go Gos, Pat Benatar, Melissa Etheridge and others in the early 70s to present day have made sure we know that the gals can rock. One of the earliest women to rock came from a small town in Texas.
Janis Joplin grew in sleepy Port Arthur TX a miss-understood child of a Texaco executive, and mom a college registrar. Janis tried to fit in as a young girl (with little success) and briefly attended the University of Texas Austin, but just couldn’t feel the vibe. (Her high school classmates were former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson and Major Crime’s actor G. W. Bailey).
Janis became the lead singer of Big Brother and Holding Company, and the rest is Rock and Roll History. Nearly every female rocker who enjoyed success in the late 70s to 90s credits her for the inspiration she provided.
During her tremulous career she once smashed a bottle of booze over Jim Morrison’s head, and earned a third degree black belt. Her lone number one song was “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Janis was once arrested in Tampa for using vulgar language towards a few police offices, but the charges were dropped.
Janis died at 27 (another member of the ’27 Club’ a group of stars that died at that age) and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; her place in rock history is secure. Janis was cremated with her ashes tossed out an airplane over the Pacific Ocean.
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Photo credit: Albert B. Grossman Management