On this day in 1966, Janis Joplin debuted with the band that would launch her career to stardom

Joplin’s career really began in 1964 when she recorded a number of blues standards with future Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Her vocal style attracted the attention of San Francisco psychedelic outfit Big Brother and the Holding Company and their manager and promoter, Chet Helms was quick to recruit Joplin to the group, with her officially joining on June 4, 1966.

The following week, Joplin and the band appeared for their debut at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom. The line-up at the time consisted of guitarists James Gurley and Sam Andrew, bassist Peter Albin and drummer Dave Getz alongside Joplin. Albin later said that the meeting wasn’t the Hollywood moment many imagined and that it took Joplin around a year to really learn how to perform with an electric band.

Within a few months, the group entered the studio to record their debut, self-titled album which would be released the following year. They soon attracted a bigger deal after Columbia Records head Clive Davis heard them play at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The band then released a second album, Cheap Thrills, before Joplin left the band in 1968 to pursue her tragically short lived solo career before her accidental death in 1970.