Janis Joplin Honored Posthumously on Walk of Fame

By City News Service and Craig Clough

Singer Janis Joplin posthumously received the 2,510th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, with her friend Kris Kristofferson performing a special acoustic version of "Me and Bobby McGee."

Joplin's siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin, accepted the star in front of the Musicians Institute on behalf of their sister, who was found dead of a heroin overdose in her room at the Landmark Hotel on 7047 Franklin Ave. on Oct. 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.

Born Jan. 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, Joplin was a self-described misfit when she attended the city's Thomas Jefferson High School, dabbled in folk music with her friends and painted. She had a history class with the future football coach Jimmy Johnson.

After graduating from high school in 1960, Joplin attended the University of Texas, but dropped out, moving to San Francisco in 1963.

Joplin returned to Texas in 1965 to study sociology at what is now known as Lamar University and performed in Austin.

Joplin joined the San Francisco-based psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1966. Joplin gave a memorable performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the year the group's first studio album was released by Mainstream Records.

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," written by Kristofferson, and "Mercedes Benz," which she completed three days before she was found dead.

"Pearl" was Joplin's best-selling album, spending nine weeks atop the Billboard 200 and certified as quadruple platinum by the trade organization the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Landmark Hotel is now called the Highland Gardens Hotel and is only a few blocks from where Joplin's star located. Read Joplin's New York Times obituary from Oct. 5, 1970. 

"Me and Bobby McGee," and it became a posthumous hit for Joplin, reaching No. 1 on the charts. It was her only No. 1 hit. 

“The first time I heard Janis Joplin’s version was right after she died. Paul Rothchild, her producer, asked me to stop by his office and listen to this thing she had cut,” Kristopherson told  Performing Songwriter. “Afterwards, I walked all over L.A., just in tears. I couldn’t listen to the song without really breaking up. So when I came back to Nashville, I went into the Combine [Publishing] building late at night, and I played it over and over again, so I could get used to it without breaking up. [Songwriter and keyboardist] Donnie Fritts came over and listened with me, and we wrote a song together that night about Janis, called ‘Epitaph’.

“‘Bobby McGee’ was the song that made the difference for me. Every time I sing it, I still think of Janis.”