Death Site: The Landmark Motor Hotel

On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin, one of the most iconic female musicians of the 1960s died from an accidental overdose of heroin in room #105 of the Landmark Motor Hotel, at the tragic age of 27. The Landmark Motor Hotel (7047 Franklin Ave.) lies in the heart of Hollywood. The hotel’s name might have changed - it’s now called The Highland Gardens Hotel - but you can still stay in the same hotel room where Joplin died. She lived in this room for the last few months of her life. The closet contains a small brass plaque, commemorating Joplin’s life, and the walls are heavily decorated with fan art and notes, comprising a ever-evolving shrine to the late singer.

Deathiversary: Janis Fucking Joplin (October 4, 1970)

On Sunday afternoon, October 4, 1970, producer Paul Rothchild became concerned when Janis Joplin failed to show up at Sunset Sound Recorders for a recording session in which she was scheduled to provide the vocal track for the already-existing instrumental track of the song "Buried Alive in the Blues." In the evening, Full Tilt Boogie's road manager, John Cooke, drove to the Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood where Joplin was staying. He saw Joplin's psychedelically paintedPorsche 356 C Cabriolet in the parking lot, and upon entering Joplin's room (#105), he found her dead on the floor beside her bed. The official cause of death was a heroin overdose, possibly compounded by alcohol.

“I'm a victim of my own insides. There was a time when I wanted to know everything ... It used to make me very unhappy, all that feeling. I just didn't know what to do with it. But now I've learned to make that feeling work for me. I'm full of emotion and I want a release, and if you're on stage and if it's really working and you've got the audience with you, it's a oneness you feel.” -Janis Joplin