Modern Covers and Translations
As the style of music shifted in the 1980s and 1990s, the number of covers started to die down, but “Me and Bobby McGee” made a comeback in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Anne Murray, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Pink, and iconic country music star Dolly Parton gave their own twists on the classic song as well.
The Grateful Dead (L-R Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan, Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir) perform onstage at The Family Dog in February 1970 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Robert Altman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Various other international singers have translated the song into additional languages, such as Afrikaans and Hebrew, truly helping to cement “Me and Bobby McGee” as a global classic. The sheer volume of covers pays testament to what a genuinely timeless and beloved song it really is – although it is worth noting that it was the biggest hit of Joplin’s music career.