This article features the 2014 Janis Joplin forever stamp from the Music Icon series made by the United States Postal Service. Popular musicians of all types have been a favorite on postage stamps for many years. Check out my page dedicated to the Legends of American Music series which showcases many popular musicians. Of course, rock and roll musicians have been among the most favorite topics on stamps. This began with the immense popularity of the Elvis Presley stamp of 1994. Unfortunately, far too few of these stamps have depicted women musicians. The Janis Joplin forever stamp from 2014 is one of the rare exceptions, featuring one of rock’s most iconic musicians.
Janis Joplin
Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 19, 1943. As a teenager, Joplin discovered blues singers Ma Rainey and Lead Belly. She began singing blues and folk music with a local high school band. Joplin was an outcast in school, becoming overweight and scarred by acne. As a result, she gravitated towards other students who were ostracized. Joplin went to the University of Texas in Austin where she began performing in a folk trio.
She left Texas, and school, in 1963, hitchhiking to San Francisco. There, in 1964, she recorded with future Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen seven tracks. During these first years in San Francisco, she also began using drugs including heroin and became a heavy drinker of Southern Comfort. Abuse of these substances caused her friends to send her back to Texas to seek care from her parents in 1965.
Music Career
Her strong mezzo-soprano voice attracted the attention of the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. She was recruited to join the band and return to San Francisco in 1966. The band began to build success and traveled to both Chicago and Los Angeles for recording sessions.
Janis Joplin found true fame with her dazzling performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. This propelled her and the band to the pinnacle of the rock and roll world. Her electric onstage presence soon made her the superstar and she grew out of the band, setting out on a solo career in 1969. She performed at Woodstock and then formed her own band called Full Tilt Boogie.
By 1970, Janis was at the top of her career with the hit songs like “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder),” national tours, and television appearances. Then, on October 4, 1970, Joplin died of a drug overdose in her hotel room in Los Angeles. She was 27 years old.
Legacy
Though Joplin did not live a long life, she had a tremendous impact on rock and pop music. Her influence on subsequent female artists was immense, providing a model for a powerful female performer in rock music. Many musicians made tribute songs about Joplin. Among them were The Mamas and Papas song “Pearl” and Leonard Cohen’s song “Chelsea Hotel #2.” The film “The Rose” is loosely about Joplin’s life and won actor Bette Midler a nomination for an Academy Award.
In 1995, Janis Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2005 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was set in her honor.
The Stamp
The Janis Joplin forever stamp was issued in a ceremony at Gold Gate Park in San Francisco on August 8, 2014. It was a part of the Music Icons series also featuring Lydia Mendoza, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, and Marvin Gaye. The design for the stamp was by art director Antonio Alcalá and features a photographic portrait of Joplin taken in June 1970 by David Gahr. The original black and white photo is reproduced in shades of blue and her iconic round sunglasses are in pink. Framing the portrait are her name, “Forever,” and “USA,” in typescript reminiscent of psychedelic-era rock posters. Learn more about the Janis Joplin stamp here.
Of course, make sure to check out some of her performances. Below you can hear her famous song “Ball and Chain.”
