This story in the Chronicle's Sunday Zest magazine on Aug. 23, 1970. Excerpts of the story, as it ran then, follow. Janis Joplin, the celebrated demigoddess of blue-eyed soul, the heiress to the ...

Janis Ian wrote “Some People’s Lives” with songwriter Kye Fleming, inspired by a restaurant owner they were friends with named Mary, who felt that she had not contributed anything to the world. They ...

It's 50 years since Janis Joplin died of an overdose in Los Angeles aged only 27. Her sad death is the one main fact many people know about her - but for true fans she remains the best female rock ...

In the 1960s, Janis Joplin was an icon of the counterculture, a female rock star at a time when rock was an all-boys' club. "At that point in time there weren't too many women taking center stage," ...

1. Before she became famous, Janis once walked up to Bob Dylan and told him she was going to be famous one day. He responded, “Yeah, we all gonna be famous.” 2. She wasn’t afraid to admit that she ...

Janis Ian circa 1970s (left) and in 2023. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian had a Top 20 hit at age 16 with her 1966 debut single "Society's Child" The song, written from the point of view of a young girl ...

The countercultural revolution of the 1960s may have been all about sex drugs and rock 'n' roll, but for one young Texas singer it was all about the blues. No one sang the blues quite like Janis ...

Of the many Janis Joplin bootlegs out there in the wild, there’s one that holds a special importance for diehard fans. The Typewriter Tape, recorded in 1964 with guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson ...

1. I'm working hard not to make this an album about her death. (But isn't this an album about her death? Wouldn't you want a way of understanding it?) Maybe a list of what she needed to say before she ...

The rare student of Vladimir Horowitz, he made a dazzling Carnegie Hall debut at age 20 and performed major concertos from Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Prokofiev. By Mike Barnes Senior ...

Over the past four decades, the voice of Janis Siegel, a nine-time Grammy winner and a seventeen-time Grammy nominee, has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer’s diverse musical catalog.