Janis Joplin's untamed howl shone with a blinding brightness that still commands attention today. With Big Brother & The Holding Company, she injected grit and heat into San Francisco's Summer of Love. Her wild, earthy vocals roared on the searing rock of “Down on Me”, while she tapped into her raw, soulful register with the rib-rattling “Piece of My Heart”. When she went solo in 1969—just a year before her tragic death—Joplin flashed a wry sense of humour with the biting sarcasm of “Mercedes Benz” and a gift for country music storytelling on Kris Kristofferson's “Me and Bobby McGee”.