Janis Joplin and Tom Jones Sing Together

Janis Joplin was a free spirit, a singer who went on to become a world-famous blues and rock singer after joining Big Brother and the Holding Company in the Bay Area before launching her solo career. She had talent like no other, belting out songs in her signature scratchy vocal style that was backed by powerful lungs and a rocky past that gave her music an edge. For all her wild ways and hippie lifestyle she appeared on many talk shows, including in a duo with Tom Jones.

Jones was known at the time for his smooth, baritone vocals of pop and jazz songs. This British singer was born into a coal-mining family in Wales. He became known as a crooner, performing in tight trousers in Vegas to crowds of adoring women. But, from 1969 to 1971 he had a talk show in the US called This Is Tom Jones. Some of his notable guests included Chet Atkins, The Bee Gees, Ella Fitzgerald, and Johnny Cash. He chose his guests based on talent, not genre, so he sang with many of the greatest performers of the time.

In this 1969 duet with Joplin the pair sang “Raise Your Hand” a song by Eddie Floyd that she often sang and which was part of her Woodstock performance. Just one year later she died at the age of 27 from an accidental drug overdose.

It’s performances like these that keep her memory alive. We can never forget her unmistakable voice, even all these years later.

Listen to the amazing duet with Tom Jones in the video below.