Janis Joplin

Relentlessly bullied.

She was a drunk drug addict, not tortured.

I never got that impression. Her interviews were jovial and she enjoyed performing. They all took drugs back then and sometimes they took too many.

I read where she chatted amiably with the hotel clerk, went back to her room shutting the door behind her- and just dropped dead.

People are always looking for some deep dark answer to questions like this when the reality is the person was careless with hard drugs. Or they were organically mentally ill and abused alcohol and drugs. Why is the “their demons” myth so popular?

Voted Ugliest Man on Campus when she was UT can do something to you.

Why is the harsh, judgemental, blame the victim mentality so popular?

A misfit in Port Arthur, Texas Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1943, Joplin grew up in a respectable middle-class family. While she was a good student and sang in the church choir, Joplin was a self-proclaimed "misfit" who didn't conform to the popular trends of the 1950s. She eschewed typical fashions, sometimes opting for men's shirts and tights or short skirts, and her direct opinions and unique style made her a target for bullying. She was reportedly teased for her appearance and called names like "pig", "freak," and other derogatory terms by her classmates. These experiences, she later recounted, left deep scars and a feeling of alienation. Finding solace in music and the Beat Generation Joplin found solace and self-expression in music and painting. She discovered the raw power of the blues through artists like Bessie Smith, Lead Belly, Odetta, and Big Mama Thornton, whose music influenced her desire to become a singer. She developed an uncanny ability to imitate the vocal styles she admired, even without being able to read music. She also found a group of like-minded "beatnik" friends in high school who shared her interest in music and the Beat Generation's rejection of conformity. College struggles and a move to San Francisco Joplin attended Lamar State College of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin, but she struggled to fit in and did not complete her degree. She continued to face teasing and bullying, and in 1963, fraternity boys voted her the "ugliest boy on campus". Seeking a change, she left Texas and hitchhiked to San Francisco with a friend, hoping to start her music career. Early days in the Bay Area and the birth of a legend In San Francisco, Joplin became involved in the folk-beat and blues scene, performing occasionally and collaborating with musicians. This period also saw her struggle with drug and alcohol use. In 1966, she joined the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, quickly becoming their frontwoman due to her powerful bluesy vocals and energetic stage presence. This led to the band's breakthrough at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the successful album Cheap Thrills, marking the beginning of her rise to stardom. AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more

Give examples of how Bessie Smith, Lead Belly, Odetta, and Big Mama Thornton influenced Janis Joplin's vocal style

What were Janis Joplin's interests outside music?

What venues did Janis perform at in Austin and San Francisco before Big Brother? Janis Joplin - Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Janis Joplin | Songs, Piece of My Heart, Me and Bobby McGee, Death, Band ...

Britannica

Life - Biography of Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues

www.janisjoplin.net Show all

Watch The Rose.

Bad acne which scarred her face

Native Texan. Period.

Like Florida, Texas has always been a shit hole state.

R5 = Voted Ugliest Man on Campus

Yes, R9, cystic acne can really fuck up your self esteem (and life)!

The Rose gives you the impression that she was some uneducated junkie hick who had nothing else going for her beside her voice. It wasn't the case.

After getting strung out on speed her first time to San Francisco, she moved back to Texas and got herself clean for almost two years. She enrolled in college again before getting back into music, and she tried to establish strict rules about drug use in her inner circle. Even before her passing, she had made several attempts to get clean from heroin, but they never lasted.

By many accounts she was well read and highly intelligent. She knew that drugs weren't good for her, but the pull of it was just too much. She did have the habit of surrounding herself with some awful, shady people. She was engaged to be married to some guy who was supposedly a con artist. I think he went to jail.

She was engaged to Seth Morgan who was also a heroin junkie. He went on to write a book called "Homeboy" wich I love and reread all the time. It was only recently I even knew he dated Janis. He died in 1992 of a motorcycle crash while high on cocaine. Killed that girlfriend along with himself.

Did this used to be a thing?

Poor girl never recovered from being a high school outcast. No matter how popular and loved she was, how many romantic partners, her fame, etc, she still couldnt let that go. When she showed up with her crew and cameras for her hs reunion, all prepared to make a big splash they all ignored her out of spite.

Sad when that happens. Most of my school years were shitty and I did suffer from bullying fairly frequently, but I am so so glad I let it go and never looked back. My life started after high school afaic.

Janis THRIVED on being an outcast. It was her thing, just like hundreds of others in show biz.

She was a closet case. Hung around with another closet case—Joan Baez. Both Joplin and Baez were sexually involved with Kim Chapel, who had a successful clothing store in the Haight and was quite the Donna Juan. Her projection of hyper heterosexuality was performative and a bit much.

R18 I'm pretty sure she was openly bisexual.

Peggy Caserta was her lover and wrote a book about eating Janis out.

^^ two books. There’s a more recent one.

If you want to be both a heroin addict and a big success, you must first start out as a member of the Kennedy family.

Janis missed the Kennedy part, poor dear.

Try tasteful Saratoga then, you poor, poor dear.

R9, bad acne scared Barbra Streisand’s face too. Her cheeks have pitted scars on them. Is she a tortured soul?

Because she died before they invented Ozempic.