Janis Joplin Walk of Fame Induction to Feature Kris Kristofferson Singing 'Me and Bobby McGee'

By City News Service and Craig Clough

Janis Joplin will posthumously receive the 2,510th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Nov. 4, with her friend Kris Kristofferson performing a special acoustic version of "Me and Bobby McGee."

Joplin's siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin, will accept the star, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame, announced Thursday.

The ceremony at 6752 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Musicians Institute, will begin at 11:30 a.m. and be streamed at walkoffame.com.

Joplin has been called "the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation." She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Joplin was found dead of a heroin overdose in her room at the Landmark Hotel on 7047 Franklin Ave. on Oct. 4, 1970 at the age of 27. The hotel is now called the Highland Gardens Hotel and is only a few blocks from where her star will be located. Read Joplin's New York Times obituary from Oct. 5, 1970. 

Kristopherson wrote "Me and Bobby McGee," and it became a posthumous hit for Joplin, reaching No. 1 on the charts. It was her only No. 1 hit. 

“The first time I heard Janis Joplin’s version was right after she died. Paul Rothchild, her producer, asked me to stop by his office and listen to this thing she had cut,” Kristopherson told  Performing Songwriter. “Afterwards, I walked all over L.A., just in tears. I couldn’t listen to the song without really breaking up. So when I came back to Nashville, I went into the Combine [Publishing] building late at night, and I played it over and over again, so I could get used to it without breaking up. [Songwriter and keyboardist] Donnie Fritts came over and listened with me, and we wrote a song together that night about Janis, called ‘Epitaph’.

“‘Bobby McGee’ was the song that made the difference for me. Every time I sing it, I still think of Janis.”