122) Pearl

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By the time Joplin had scored her first Number One album, Cheap Thrills, with Big Brother and the Holding Company, she had outgrown the group's punk-blues sound. After an uneven solo bow, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969), Joplin joined Doors producer Paul Rothchild to make this more assured and intimate album, digging into quality soul such as "Get It While You Can" and Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" with the combined authority of Billie Holiday and Big Mama Thornton. Joplin did not live to enjoy her triumph. She died of a drug overdose in 1970, before the album was completed. She was twenty-seven.

Total album sales: 4 million

Peak chart position: 1

Next: Bob Marley and the Wailers

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