With "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" (out now), Amy Winehouse joins a small but illustrious group of artists -- Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain, among them -- who had new albums released within months of their death.
Janis Joplin
Three months after Janis Joplin died from a heroin overdose, the biggest album of her career was released.
Pearl, which includes Joplin's version of "Me and Bobby McGee," topped the album chart in 1971, and has sold nearly 8 million copies in the years since.
Early in her life, Joplin cultivated a rebellious and unconventional lifestyle, becoming a beatnik poet. She began her singing career as a folk and blues singer in San Francisco, playing clubs and bars with her guitar and auto-harp. A heavy drinker all of her life, her favorite drink was Southern Comfort.
When Joplin failed to show up at Sunset Sound Recorders for the next recording session by Sunday afternoon, producer Paul A. Rothchild became concerned. Full Tilt Boogie's road manager, John Cooke, drove to the Landmark. He saw Joplin's psychedelically painted Porsche 356C Cabriolet in the parking lot. Upon entering her room, he found her dead on the floor beside her bed. The official cause of death was an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.
Labels: ALBUM, death, Janis Joplin, Millianier
