February 14, 2005

Teenage British soul star Joss Stone and a bald Melissa Etheridge electrified the Grammys audience with a gritty tribute to Janis Joplin.

Video

Kris Kristofferson, who wrote the Joplin classic Me and Bobby McGee, introduced the duo. Joplin died of a drug overdose in 1970, aged 27.

“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “She was so passionate about what she did.”

I found that Melissa's performance was tremendous on the Grammys because of her battle with cancer. The issue is not how close she came to emulating Janis, but the fact that she performed at all.

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