Janis Joplin Biography Essay

Janis Joplin was selected 28th in the World's Greatest Singers list because she thought that female singers were just as good as male singers (“100 greatest singers,” 2016). Joplin wanted to prove to all of her fans that males and females were equal. Janis Joplin’s personality was very important to her career because they helped her become nationally known. Even though Janis Joplin only recorded four albums, her major accomplishments have created a legacy for her.

Janis Joplin turned to her music for comfort during her childhood struggles. Because Joplin was bullied at school and turned to music for comfort, her mother taught her how to play the piano at a young age (“Joplin, Janis,” 2006; Willett, 2008). Joplin’s beginning of her career was very rough and she was earning a paltry amount of money by singing at a place called The Coffee Gallery, or sometimes at Coffee and Confusion, while crashing in multiple apartments. Janis Joplin was also arrested in Berkeley for shoplifting (Willett, 2008).

Even though Janis Joplin had a slow start, she became very popular during the first period of her career. Joplin first met Big Brother and

Janis Joplin was known for singing the blues and acid rock at San Francisco's North Beach, and her appearances at local coffeehouses in Texas. Joplin also sang folk, country, and gospel. Janis Joplin was a free-spirited hippie that went from in vogue to an outrageous persona. Janis showed her viewers that female performers could be just as integral as male performers. Joplin did this by showing the world her singular charisma (“Joplin, Janis,” 2006). Over the years of Janis Joplin’s career, she became an alcoholic, a heroin addict, a rich woman, and a star that was an icon on the counterculture (Draper & Marshall, 1992). Janis Joplin’s legacy was seismic to her career, and in 1979, The Rose, was based on Joplin’s life