Janis Joplin is one of the most revered and iconic rock & roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1971 at age 27. With massive hits, she was one of the definitive stars to emerge during the musical and cultural revolution of the 1960s. She delivered a breakout performance at the Monterey Pop Festival and was one of the memorable acts at Woodstock. Her legacy has only grown since her passing.

Yet Joplin never fully recovered from the persecution she felt as a social outcast during her adolescence in Port Arthur, Texas — for all of her on-stage bravado and her uninhibited, sexualized persona, she was haunted by insecurity and a need for acceptance throughout her life. When she discovered the blues, she found an outlet for her pain and loneliness. When she made it to San Francisco at the dawning of the hippie era, she fell into a community in which she finally felt she belonged. Ultimately, Janis Joplin is a paradox, a pioneer for a new kind of female performer, one who never stopped seeking love and stability, always on her own terms. Joplin’s own words tell much of the film’s story through a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, many of them made public here for the first time.