Skip to main content

Link to Smithsonian homepage

Smithsonian Music

Main menu

  • Calendar
  • Listen
  • Learn
    • Ask Smithsonian
    • Collections Spotlights
    • Music Stories
  • Watch
  • Blog

Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin

Object Details

Exhibition Label
In a time when musicians were seen as leaders in a cultural revolution, this pill-shaped poster, highlighting the drug-related deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin at tragically young ages, questioned the lifestyle choices of such trendsetters. Hendrix shot to fame with his groundbreaking guitar playing. Joplin, a bluesy rock singer with a powerful voice, electrified audiences with her explosive performance style. Their deaths in 1970 propelled the emerging anti-drug movement, which would eventually lead to President Richard Nixon declaring a war on drugs in 1971 and creating the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. The juxtaposition of these popular icons with the question "Winner?" summarizes the grip of the era's drug culture and the beginning of a concerted effort to curtail its power.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Printer
L & S Productions
Sitter
Jimi Hendrix, 27 Nov 1942 - 18 Sep 1970
Janis Joplin, 19 Jan 1943 - 4 Oct 1970
Date
1970
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Medium
Color photolithographic halftone poster
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 92.1 × 36.3 cm (36 1/4 × 14 5/16")
Type
Print

Featured In

  • Rock and Roll Music
  • The Art of Rock and Roll
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Link to Smithsonian homepage

  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Back to Top