Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin (January 19th, 1943 - October 4th, 1970)
Janis Joplin was a singer/songwriter from America famous for her hit "Piece Of My Heart".
 
Net Worth: Janis Joplin has a net worth of $5 Million according to Celebrity Networth (2015).
 
Musical Career: She performed at the Monterey Pop Festival. This was her first ever large-scale performance, and led to becoming one of the major attractions at the Woodstock Festival and the Festival Express train tour.
Five songs of Joplin's charted, and her other songs were very popular. Some of them were,  "Down On Me", "Summertime", "Piece Of My Heart", "Ball 'n' Chain".
Her only number one hit was, "Me and Bobby McGee".
In 1995, Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Her first recorded song was "What Good Can Drinkin' Do", in December 1962.
In January 1963, Janis left Texas for San Francisco. 
In 1963, Janis recorded a number of Blues standards with Jorma Kaukonen and Margareta Kaukonen, including "Hesitation Blues", and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out".
In 1966, Big Brother and The holding Company contacted Janis due to her bluesy vocal style.
Recruited by Chet Helms, Janis was taken back to San Francisco to join the band.
The group signed a deal with Mainstream Records in August 1966.
The label owner Bob Shad refused to pay the bands airfare after they recorded some tracks in his Chicago studio.
1967 hosted one of Joplin's early major performances at the Mantra-Rock Dance Festival at the Avalon Ballroom. 
She performed with Big Brother along with Bhaktivedanta Swami, Allen Ginsberg, Moby Grape, and Grateful Dead.
Joplin and Big Brother played in clubs, at the Fillmore West, Winterland, and Avalon Ballroom, as well as Hollywood Bowl in LA.
In 1967, after the group had a breakthrough performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, they released their debut studio album, "Big Brother and The Holding Company".
The group began their East Coast Tour on April 7th 1968, which ended with performances with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop at the "Wake for Martin Luther King, Jr." concert in New York.
Joplin and Big Brother made their nationwide television debut on The Dick Cavett Show, in early 1968, and soon after the tape got erased. 
Joplin contributed a huge amount to her major studio recording, in the arrangement for Big Brother's second studio album, "Cheap Thrills".
The album, after reaching number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, successfully launched Joplin's career.
In 1968, the band had another East Coast tour, during July and August.
Joplin announced that she would be leaving Big Brother after returning to San Francisco.
On September 14th, 1968, the band hosted a three-night final gig together at Fillmore West.
In October 1968, at a live performance at he Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, bassist Peter Albin mocked Joplin in front of the audience.
December 1st, 1968 was Joplin's last performance with Big Brother, and was at a family dog benefit.
Joplin formed the Kozmic Blues Band after her split from Big Brother.
The bands album, "Kozmic Blues" was released in September 1969, and was certified gold, although it was not as successful as "Cheap Thrills"
On August 16th, 1969, Joplin appeared at the Woodstock Festival and performed throughout the night, becoming one of the famous festivals' main attractions.
In late summer of 1969, guitarist of Big Brother Sam Andrew, who had left the band with Joplin in 1968, returned to Big Brother without her.
The Kozmic Blues Band broke up at the end of the year, performing their last gig at Madison Square Garden with Winter and Butterfield.
She met David Niehaus, an American man who was travelling the world.
Around this time, she began a new band, "Full Tilt Boogie Band". They began touring in May 1970.
Before this tour, she did a reunion gig with Big Brother on April 4th, 1970, and again on April 12th.
Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band joined the all-star Festival Express train tour from June 28-July 4 1970.
They were accompanied by Buddy Guy, The Band, Ten Years After, Grateful Dead, Delaney and Bonnie, Eric Andersen, and Ian & Sylvia, playing in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.
Joplin headlined on all three nights, and even went on with other artists like Jerry Garcia, whilst her band was tuning up.
On August 20th, 1970, Joplin performed her last gig with Full Tilt Boogie Band.
During the end of 1970, Joplin and her band started recording a new album in LA.
'Pearl' was released in 1971, Joplin's biggest selling album of her career.
 
Personal Life: Her friends nicknamed her 'Pearl'.
Janis was also a painter, dancer, and music arranger.
She was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 19th, 1943.
Her Mother was Dorothy Bonita East (February 15, 1913 - December 13, 1998) and her Father was Seth Ward Joplin (April 19, 1910 - May 10, 1987).
They were a religious family, and attended the Church of Christ.
She began singing with friends, because her main focus at school was painting.
After years of bullying, Janis graduated High School in 1960.
She moved on to study at Lamar State College of Technology in Beaumont, Texas.
Later, she went to The University of Texas at Austin, but did not complete her studies.
Janis had extensive problems with drugs and alcohol throughout her career, frequently using heroin and constantly relapsing.
She has had relationships with Peter De Blanc, Country Joe McDonald and Big Brother.
She died in her hotel room from a heroin overdose and was discovered by her road manager.