USA JANIS JOPLIN STAR (Joplin receives posthumous star)
Singer Janis Joplin received the 2,510th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday (November 04), with her friend Kris Kristofferson who performed a special acoustic version the song he wrote for her, “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Record producer and music industry executive Clive Davis joined Kristofferson and Joplin’s siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin, who were there to accept the star on behalf of their sister. Janis Joplin was found dead of a heroin overdose in a motel just blocks away from where her new star sits on October 4, 1970 at the age of 27.
Joplin has been called “the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Davis, who signed Joplin to Columbia Records, paid tribute to her enduring legacy at the star ceremony.
“I can’t tell you how many artists I’ve met over the years who, when I ask ‘who inspired them?’ they say ‘Janis Joplin.’ She just kicked that door wide open for generation after generation even today I hear a band like Alabama Shakes or an artist like Pink or I see one female singer after another on “The Voice,” “American Idol” or “X Factor,” and they sing a song that Janis owned and I know her spirit is still with us.”
Born January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, Joplin was a self-described misfit who after graduating from high school in 1960, attended the University of Texas, but dropped out, moving to San Francisco in 1963.
Joplin joined the San Francisco-based psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1966. She gave a memorable performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the year the group’s first studio album was released.
The group’s first major studio album, “Cheap Thrills” was released by Columbia Records in summer of 1968 and topped the Billboard pop albums chart for eight weeks. It included Joplin singing “Ball And Chain,” “Piece of My Heart” and “Summertime.”
Joplin left Big Brother and the Holding Company in December 1968. Her first solo album, “I’ve Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!,” was released in 1969 and achieved gold album status. She also performed at Woodstock in 1969.
Joplin’s final album “Pearl” included the top-40 hits “Me and Bobby McGee,” and “Mercedes Benz,” which she completed three days before she was found dead.
