Janis Joplin: Still One Of A Kind 50 Years Later

October 4, 1970, just 16 days after the music world lost Jimi Hendrix, the music world lost another rock icon, and still to this day there hasn’t been another like her and that artist is Janis Joplin.

Janis Joplin was a force of nature in her four years in the spotlight, but those four years in the spotlight were influential and set her legacy as one of the greatest female singers in rock history than anyone who has been doing it for more than 20 plus years.

Janis’s sheer vocals and emotion on stage was nothing like any other female singer before or after her, case you want some evidence on this just look at her standout performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. As you can see, she made Mama Cass from The Mamas and The Papas say “wow” and that showed she was going nowhere but up.

Sadly Janis Joplin only had only four albums to her name, two with Big Brother and the Holding Company and two as a solo artist, but with those four albums, she left a legacy that so many artists wish they could leave behind.

While her interview with Dick Cavett was her last TV interview, it was Howard Smith who had the last interview with Janis on September 30, 1970, just four days before she died and you can see a glimpse of who Janis was here.

Janis Joplin is one of the very rear cases in music that there will never be another one like her. Her voice, present, the command of her audience, style, and attitude will never be matched or seen by anyone else as long as we all remember Janis.