Janis Joplin

She is now remembered best for her powerful, distinctive voice, which was significantly divergent from the soft folk-influenced styles more common at the time, as well as for her lyrical themes of pain and loss. Several years later, a "Best Of" recording called Muchas Gracias was also released. The movie The Rose, with Bette Midler in the lead role, was loosely based on Joplin's life. Kyuss's last new release was in 1997, a split EP featuring 3 Kyuss songs and 3 Queens Of The Stone Age songs. The album Pearl was released six weeks after her death. Homme and Oliveri joined up again to form Queens Of The Stone Age with Hernandez, while Garcia has had several post-Kyuss projects, including Unida, Hermano and Slo Burn. She was cremated in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California, and her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Finally, Kyuss dissolved.

Shortly thereafter, Joplin died of an overdose of unusually pure heroin on October 4, 1970 in a Los Angeles, California motel room, at the age of 27. In 1995 they released ...And the Circus Leaves Town. She made it there, but it would be one if the last decisions of her life. Personal problems soon tore the group apart and Bjork left following a tour, replaced by Alfredo Hernandez. Her last public appearance was on The Dick Cavett Show in 1970, where she said that she was going to attend her 10-year high school reunion, although she had formerly said when in high school there she was "laughed out of class, out of school, out of town". Oliveri left (and was replaced by Scott Reeder) just as the group signed to Elektra Records and released Welcome to Sky Valley (1994), another acclaimed album. The result was the posthumously released Pearl (1971), which featured a hit single in the form of Kris Kristofferson's Me and Bobby McGee and the wry social commentary of Mercedes-Benz, written by beat poet Michael McClure. Chris Goss produced their next album, the landmark Blues for the Red Sun, a critically hailed album that earned the band many accolades.

That group broke up, and Joplin then formed the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Kyuss released their debut album, Wretch in 1991 on Dali Records, but sales were sluggish even as their live shows gained fame. Splitting from Big Brother, she formed a backup group, named the Kozmic Blues Band, which backed her on I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! 1969 (year she played at Woodstock). The band was originally called the Sons of Kyuss, and released the now-rare album Sons of Kyuss locally in 1990, before the group's name was shortened to Kyuss. (The D.A. Pennebaker documentary Monterey Pop captured Cass Elliott in the crowd silently mouthing "Wow" during part of Joplin's performance.) Their 1968 album Cheap Thrills featured more raw emotional performances and made Joplin's name. The group formed in 1989, consisting of John Garcia (vocals), Joshua Homme (guitar), Nick Oliveri (bass guitar) and Brant Bjork (drums), performing all around southern California, frequently at parties in the desert, referred to as "generator parties" because of the use of gasoline-powered generators to provide electricity for the equipment. The band's big break came at the Monterey Pop Festival, which included a version of Big Mama Thornton's Ball and Chain and featured a barnstorming vocal by Joplin. Kyuss (pronounce: KIGH-us) was an influential stoner rock band, originally from Palm Desert, California.

However, the lack of success of their early singles led to the album being withheld until after their subsequent success. Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss (2000, compilation). The band signed a deal with independent Mainstream Records and recorded an eponymously titled album in 1967. Split (1997, with Queens of the Stone Age). After a return to Port Arthur to recuperate, she again moved to San Francisco in 1966, where her bluesy vocal style saw her join Big Brother and The Holding Company, a band that was gaining some renown among the nascent hippie community in Haight-Ashbury. ...And the Circus Leaves Town (1995, final album before disbanding in 3 months later). She was a heavy drinker throughout her career, and her trademark beverage was Southern Comfort. (Welcome to) Sky Valley (1994).

She also used other intoxicants. Blues for the Red Sun (1992). Around this time her drug use began to increase, and she acquired a reputation as a "speed freak" and occasional heroin user. Wretch (1991). Cultivating a rebellious manner that could be viewed as "liberated", Joplin styled herself after the beat poets, left Texas for San Francisco in 1963, lived in North Beach, and worked occasionally as a folk singer. Sons of Kyuss (1990). There, she began singing blues and folk music with friends.

Joplin graduated from Jefferson High School in Port Arthur in 1960 and went to college at the University of Texas in Austin, though she never completed a degree. She grew up listening to blues musicians such as Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton and singing in the local choir. Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Joplin released four albums as the frontwoman for several bands from 1967 to a posthumous release in 1971.

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock, R&B, and soul singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. Download sample of "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" from I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!.