Peggy Caserta, Janis Joplin’s partner and biographer, dead at 84
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(Credits: Herb Greene)
Peggy Caserta, the former lover and biographer of late rock icon Janis Joplin, has died at age 84 of natural causes.
Caserta, who told the world about her relationship with Joplin in a revealing memoir in 1973 entitled Going Down With Janis, passed away at her Oregon cabin on November 21st. Her death has been announced by her friend and publisher, Nancy Cleary.
While Caserta would later dispute her own claims in the memoir by denying that there was ever a romantic relationship between her and Joplin, her stories candidly told of the singer’s life prior to her tragic death in 1970 at the age of 27, with revelations about her sexuality and drug use being heavily discussed.
The book, which Caserta later asserted was ghostwritten by another author and that her only contributions were made to help fund her heroin addiction, was met with both fierce criticism and praise at the time. On one hand, it was viewed as scandalous and sensationalist, but others called it an important piece of writing that covered Joplin’s bisexuality in a way that was uncommon for its time.
In a later 2018 memoir entitled I Ran Into Some Trouble, Caserta revisited many of the claims she had made in her initial publication, stating that many of the stories were fabrications of the truth, while also claiming that Joplin did not die of an overdose, but instead asphyxiated on her own blood after an accidental fall.
Much of Caserta’s documentation of Joplin’s life has been used as source material for other retellings, with the 1979 Bette Midler film The Rose being an unauthorised fictionalisation based on the stories that Caserta had previously told in her memoirs.
Caserta also advised the filmmaker Peter Newman with information for the lengthy production of his biopic Janis, which has been in the works for over 20 years.
During her life, Joplin recorded four studio albums, two of which were with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the latter two of which were recorded alongside other backing bands. Following her death, Joplin would go on to be regarded as one of the greatest vocalists of her generation and has continued to have a shining and influential legacy.
In 1995, Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and was also posthumously recognised in 2005 with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the Grammys.
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