She was born in January 1943 in Port Arthur. She was the eldest of three children born to Scott Joplin, a Texaco engineer, and his wife, Dorothy, a registrar at a local college. As a youth, she performed in her church choir at First Christian Church in Port Arthur
Her artistic talents were emerging. However, she was relentlessly and cruelly bullied by a number of people throughout her years in school. She was never able to get over the bitterness she felt from those years. She also started drinking. She befriended a group of fellow outcasts where she became enamored with early blues artists such as Bessie Smith and Texas native Huttie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter. They traveled along the Gulf Coast listening to a mix of bands.
After her graduation in 1960, she eventually made her way to the University of Texas as an art student by 1962, where she became part of the rising music and counterculture scene on campus. She became a well-known figure, famous for walking barefoot and carrying her autoharp wherever she went. She began performing gigs around Austin where she met country singer Kenneth Threadgill after performing at his small club. Threadgill gave her a lot of advice and encouragement on her career.
By early 1963, she decided to leave for San Francisco, hitchhiking across the country. She continued to perform at small venues while writing and recording music in her spare time. But she also began falling into heavy drug use by this time and was arrested for shoplifting. By 1965, her drug use became so bad that friends bought her a bus ticket back home to Port Arthur to recuperate.
Joplin enrolled at Lamar University in Beaumont and took classes in anthropology and social work, even briefly becoming engaged, but her first love was music and continued performing at small clubs. Once her health was restored, she headed back to San Francisco on an invitation to join Big Brother and the Holding Company. She electrified audiences across California with her energetic performances, often inviting audiences to sing along. Her iconic performance at the Monterey Pops Festival in 1967 caught the attention of music fans and producers. The band’s self-titled album that year was a hit.
The next album, Cheap Thrills, released in 1968, hit number 1. She began touring with the band across the country. Her version of “Piece of My Heart” was released as a single and was a Top 20 hit. Along the way, she relapsed and started using drugs heavily, with her life began spiraling out of control. She split with her band and formed a new one, the Kozmic Blues Band by late 1968, but essentially it was a solo career.
She released I Got Dem Kozmic Blues Again Mama in 1969, which hit number 5 on the Billboard charts, her second straight platinum album. That summer, she performed at the famous Woodstock music festival in New York.
On Thanksgiving Day 1969, she performed at Madison Square Garden with the Rolling Stones and sang a duet with Tina Turner. She was so intoxicated that friends and other performers worried about her.
In February 1970, she traveled to Brazil and attempted to kick her addiction habit once again. But her sobriety was short-lived. Within a few weeks, she returned to the United States and quickly fell back into her addiction. She formed a new band, eventually known as the Full Tilt Boogie Band, and went on tour, appearing with the Grateful Dead and blues guitarist Buddy Guy. She concluded the tour in August.
Shortly afterward, she returned to Port Arthur for the last time to attend her ten-year class reunion. Though her musical talents had earned her a lot of fame, her relationships with many of her former classmates were still strained; and she publicly berated the city and her classmates in a press conference.
She returned to Los Angeles and began recording an album with her band. They had spent several weeks recording tracks. Her behavior was erratic, and she wondered how much longer her newest band would perform with her. On October 4, she was found dead from a heroin overdose. She was only 27, part of a string of deaths of young artists from drug overdoses at that time, including Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix.
Though the album was still incomplete, Columbia Records decided to release the album in early 1971. Pearl was the biggest hit of Joplin’s career. The album’s title was her nickname among her friends. The album shot to the top of the charts and featured some of her most memorable songs. Her rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee,” which was written by one-time boyfriend Kris Kristofferson was a number 1 single on the Billboard charts. “Mercedes Benz” was also released as a popular single from the album. The song was a take on consumerism and was one of her last recordings, completed just days before her death.
In the years afterward, Columbia continued to release old recordings. In Concert was released in 1972 and peaked at number 4. A greatest hits album was released in 1973 and was a Top 40 hit. Numerous books and documentaries were made about her, including tribute songs performed by friends and admirers. Many artists continue to perform cover versions of her hits. In 1988, a statue of her was unveiled in Port Arthur. Her younger sister Laura wrote a loving biography of her in 1992. She was honored posthumously with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
