Janis Joplin in the Village

Janis Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) lived at 139 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village briefly before her death. During her time here, a bar and steakhouse called the Ninth Circle, owned by Mickey Ruskin of Max’s Kansas City, was located in the basement of the building. Jimi Hendrix frequented the place, as would Joplin herself, on occasion also performing for customers. Joplin was also known to stay at the Chelsea Hotel located on 23rd Street. Leonard Cohen would profess years after Joplin’s death in 1970 that he and Joplin had a one night stand there after meeting in the hotel elevator. This encounter was the inspiration for Cohen’s song, Chelsea Hotel #2. 

After the release of her 1968 album with Big Brother, Cheap Thrills, Joplin began regularly using heroin. She was recording a new album with her newly formed band, The Full Tilt Boogie Band, in Los Angeles when she died of an accidental overdose in her hotel room.