Erma Franklin

1938–2002 · American soul and gospel singer

Erma Franklin (1938–2002) was an American soul and gospel singer and the older sister of Aretha Franklin. She recorded the first version of ‘Piece of My Heart’ in 1967 — a top-10 R&B hit that earned her a Grammy nomination. Then Janis Joplin covered it, and Erma spent years watching her own recording slip out of public memory; she once said she heard the Joplin version on the radio and did not recognise the song as hers.

Who recorded it

Songs Erma Franklin recorded first

Piece of My Heart

Recorded it first — now often credited to Janis Joplin

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