Recommendations of the Editorial team
Janis Joplin entered completely new territory. She was not just one of the greatest women in rock music – in her time she was the woman in rock music. She created a whole world of opportunities for women in the area: Without Janis there would be no Melissa Etheridge, no Chrissie Hynde, no Gwen Stefani, no one.
I went to the high school when I discovered it for myself. “Pearl” was the first album I bought. I still know that it somehow scared me. I would say: If Joni Mitchell made it clear to me that a woman could sing about her life publicly, then I realized by Janis Joplin that a woman could also live a wild life. Back then I was a brave Catholic girl, but that didn’t stop me from buying Janis’ records – and when she died, when she died, a black bracelet at school.
You can hardly imagine today how incredibly shocking Janisj Oplin was at the time. Since you had to go to the bluessängers who had fled to Europe to find something so wild and uninhibited – and even they were still a bit more but rather but more than Janis. She always seemed to be just to get out of control. For the first time after a long time, I watched the film from the Monterey Pop Festival for the first time and found Janis absolutely breathtaking. She was a spectacle, an explosion that breaks over the audience. In the film you can see how Mama Cass just shakes his head at the end of Janis’ performance, gets up and applauds as if she wanted to ask: “Oh my god, what was that?”
She didn’t live long enough to get far. It was a glistenly light light that burned out far too quickly
She stood steadfastly to her personal truth, no matter how destructive, funny or wrong. She was an absolute individualist in the way she sang, how she sang, how she lived. She loved her whiskey and made no secret of it. A unique woman – without stylists, publicists or image consultants. Just Janis.
The beauty and the power of the singer Janis Joplin lies in the fact that she was absolutely not afraid. She didn’t hold back. Every time she went to the border, every time she opened her mouth. She could also finish you when she opened her heart, such as in “Me and Bobby McGee”, where you suddenly saw the little girl behind it. She was never really happy. She didn’t live long enough to get that far. It was a glare light light that burned down far too quickly.