Janis Joplin has always been someone I have looked up to. I think she is a remarkable example of women’s pride, beauty, and strength. Janis has offered such a look into a reimagined sense of womanhood during the 1960s-70s counterculture.
Born on January 19, 1943, Janis always felt like an outcast among her peers. However, she combatted this sense of dysphoria through music.
Janis was first introduced to blues by a boy in her friend group. She had fallen in love and began singing blues and folk music with her high school friends.
Joplin, like many other artists in the ‘70s, had become addicted to drugs. Battling this addiction along with her rise to fame would eventually result in her tragic death.
Her addiction started in her early adulthood. The everlasting influence of being an outcast of her childhood years, the bullying and shunning, had left Janis with insecurities and poor self-esteem.
Janis Joplin passed away in a hotel room following a relapse of her heroin addiction on October 4, 1970.
However, Janis Joplin had a massive influence on early rock and roll. She offered extremely electric energy on stage. She’d pave the way for many following women musicians even if she had not realized it herself.
Yet, in talking about Janis Joplin it is imperative that credit be given to the Black musicians that influenced her. Janis sought out the influence of soul and blues artists such as Etta James, Billie Holiday, Big Mama Thornton, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin.
Most of all, Janis was influenced by Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith was a blues singer who was coined as the most talented blues singer.
In listening to Janis’ music the emotion she is trying to express can be felt so strongly by the audience. Joplin had this way of communicating to her fans through her voice, she empowered herself with her struggles with addiction, sobriety, insecurities, and mental health. These struggles are so clearly heard through her voice.