# Piece of My Heart
**"Piece of My Heart"** is a love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns and first recorded in 1967 by the American soul singer [Erma Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/erma-franklin), the older sister of [Aretha Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/aretha-franklin). It became an international standard through a 1968 cover by [Big Brother and the Holding Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/big-brother-and-the-holding-company) with Janis Joplin on lead vocals, and it has since been a hit in several genres, including country, reggae, dance, and R&B.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) |
| First recording | Erma Franklin, 1967, for Berns' Shout label[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [2](https://www.stoneageinstitute.org/pdfs/pieceofmyheart.pdf) |
| Franklin's chart run | US Billboard Hot 100 #62, R&B Top 10 in 1967; UK #9 on 1992 re-release[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [3](https://nowmusicwiki.com/index.php?title=Erma_Franklin_-_Piece_Of_My_Heart) |
| Joplin version | Big Brother and the Holding Company, 1968, US #12; track 4 on *Cheap Thrills*[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843) |
| Studio recording | May 20, 1968, produced by John Simon[4](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843) |
| Later hit versions | Faith Hill (country #1, 1994), Shaggy featuring Marsha (UK #7, 1997), Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone (US #32, 2005), Beverley Knight (UK Top 20, 2006)[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) |
## Writing and the Erma Franklin original
Jerry Ragovoy, a songwriter and producer who also wrote "Time Is on My Side" and "Stay with Me (Baby)", composed "Piece of My Heart" with Bert Berns, the producer behind "[Twist and Shout](https://www.edgepedia.org/twist-and-shout)" and "Under the Boardwalk".[5](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/jerry-ragovoy-prolific-songwriter-and-producer-whose-hits-included-the-rolling-stones-time-is-on-my-side-2317696.html) Both men specialized in shouted soul; Ragovoy also wrote "Cry Baby", another song Joplin later recorded.[6](https://www.originals.be/en/originals/4875)
Erma Franklin recorded the song in 1967 for Shout Records, the R&B and soul label Berns had established, with the same song on both sides of the 7-inch single.[2](https://www.stoneageinstitute.org/pdfs/pieceofmyheart.pdf) The recording was a Top 10 R&B hit in the United States and reached #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, with a peak date of December 16, 1967, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1968.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [3](https://nowmusicwiki.com/index.php?title=Erma_Franklin_-_Piece_Of_My_Heart) In the UK the single was re-released in 1992 after its use in a Levi's jeans commercial, and it peaked at #9 there that October, 25 years after the original release.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [3](https://nowmusicwiki.com/index.php?title=Erma_Franklin_-_Piece_Of_My_Heart)
Franklin left the music industry in the mid-1970s, apart from occasional engagements with her sister Aretha, and died in 2002.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [7](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/story-of-the-song-piece-of-my-heart-beverley-knight-b2243753.html) When she heard Joplin's cover on the radio, she said she did not at first recognize the song, remarking, "Her version is so different from mine that I really don't resent it too much."[7](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/story-of-the-song-piece-of-my-heart-beverley-knight-b2243753.html)
## Big Brother and the Holding Company
The song was suggested to Joplin by [Jefferson Airplane](https://www.edgepedia.org/jefferson-airplane) bassist [Jack Casady](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-casady), and Big Brother and the Holding Company cut the studio version on May 20, 1968, with producer [John Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-simon).[8](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/classic-tracks/classic-tracks-big-brother-holding-companys-piece-my-heart-366109) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843) Band member Peter Albin later described the approach: the original single was "a real, relaxed version", he said, "so we sat down and Big Brotherized it."[9](https://digitalcollections.briscoecenter.org/item/2423?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=634e7c2cbebcade5c5cb&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=13&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0)
The single was released in August 1968 on Columbia and reached #12 on the US chart.[10](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/240993-big-brother-and-the-holding-company-piece-of-my-heart.php) • [1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) Billboard called it "dynamite", predicting the "raucous dance treatment will rock up the Hot 100".[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) It appeared as track 4 on the album *[Cheap Thrills](https://www.edgepedia.org/cheap-thrills-big-brother-and-the-holding-company-album)*, whose cover was drawn by [Robert Crumb](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-crumb) after an earlier photo concept was abandoned; the album's original title, "Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills", was vetoed by Columbia's Clive Davis.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843) • [8](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/classic-tracks/classic-tracks-big-brother-holding-companys-piece-my-heart-366109) • [11](https://songlexikon.de/songs/piece-of-my-heart/)
The recording became Joplin's signature song. It remained her biggest chart success and best-known recording until "[Me and Bobby McGee](https://www.edgepedia.org/me-and-bobby-mcgee)" posthumously eclipsed it in 1970, and AllMusic's review credits it with catapulting her into superstardom.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843) The arrangement keeps the background chorus of the original, whose "Oh, oh, take it" and "Oh, oh, break it" refrains sit under the rock arrangement.[11](https://songlexikon.de/songs/piece-of-my-heart/)
## Later versions
The song has been remade across styles. Hit versions include:
- **Faith Hill** (1994), a country version that reached #1 on the country chart on her debut album *Take Me as I Am*; Ragovoy reportedly called it his second favorite version after the original.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [6](https://www.originals.be/en/originals/4875)
- **Hortense Ellis** with the Upsetters, a reggae treatment produced by Lee Perry with what AllMusic's reviewer calls a "surprisingly lightweight", uptempo backing.[12](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0003514400)
- **Shaggy featuring Marsha** (1997), which reached #7 in the UK and #6 in New Zealand.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [13](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/piece%20of%20my%20heart/?page=0)
- **Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone** (2005), performed live at the 47th [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards) as part of a tribute medley to Joplin and released as a download-only single, reaching US #32.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/)
- **Beverley Knight** (2006), a Top 20 UK single from her compilation *Voice*; the [Official Charts Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/official-charts-company) lists its peak at #16 over 13 weeks.[1](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/) • [7](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/story-of-the-song-piece-of-my-heart-beverley-knight-b2243753.html) • [13](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/piece%20of%20my%20heart/?page=0)
- **Sammy Hagar** (1982), whose version spent 3 weeks on the UK chart with a peak of #67.[13](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/piece%20of%20my%20heart/?page=0)
- **Wizkid featuring Brent Faiyaz** (2024), an Afrobeat single from the album *[Morayo](https://www.edgepedia.org/morayo-album)*, released on RCA and Starboy Entertainment, which spent one week on the UK chart at #61.[14](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1105363-wizkid-piece-of-my-heart.php) • [13](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/piece%20of%20my%20heart/?page=0)
## Legacy
Bert Berns died young and remained little known outside the industry, but he was inducted posthumously into the [Songwriters Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/songwriters-hall-of-fame), and a jukebox musical built on his catalog, *Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story*, opened off-Broadway in 2014 with a book by Daniel Goldfarb.[15](https://apnews.com/article/573269c9571dd5d963529b032128052c) The song's history, in which a restrained soul original was overtaken by a ferocious rock cover that itself became the standard, is often cited as a case study in how cover versions can transform a song's identity; Franklin's own comment on hearing Joplin's version, that the two recordings were so different she barely recognized her own song, captures that distance.[7](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/story-of-the-song-piece-of-my-heart-beverley-knight-b2243753.html)
## References
1. [Piece of My Heart, The Originals Project / Songs with Earlier Histories](https://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/piece-of-my-heart/)
2. ["Piece of My Heart" background PDF, Stone Age Institute](https://www.stoneageinstitute.org/pdfs/pieceofmyheart.pdf)
3. [Erma Franklin – Piece of My Heart, Now That's What I Call Music Wiki](https://nowmusicwiki.com/index.php?title=Erma_Franklin_-_Piece_Of_My_Heart)
4. [Piece of My Heart – Big Brother & the Holding Company, AllMusic review by Joe Viglione](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0001820843)
5. [Jerry Ragovoy obituary, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/jerry-ragovoy-prolific-songwriter-and-producer-whose-hits-included-the-rolling-stones-time-is-on-my-side-2317696.html)
6. [PIECE OF MY HEART, The Originals by Arnold Rypens](https://www.originals.be/en/originals/4875)
7. [Story of the song: Piece of My Heart by Beverley Knight, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/story-of-the-song-piece-of-my-heart-beverley-knight-b2243753.html)
8. [Classic Tracks: Big Brother & The Holding Company's "Piece of My Heart", Mixonline](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/classic-tracks/classic-tracks-big-brother-holding-companys-piece-my-heart-366109)
9. [Big Brother interview, Briscoe Center Digital Collections](https://digitalcollections.briscoecenter.org/item/2423?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=634e7c2cbebcade5c5cb&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=13&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0)
10. [Big Brother and the Holding Company – Piece of My Heart (Single), Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/240993-big-brother-and-the-holding-company-piece-of-my-heart.php)
11. [Piece of My Heart, Songlexikon. Encyclopedia of Songs](https://songlexikon.de/songs/piece-of-my-heart/)
12. [Piece of My Heart – The Upsetters, AllMusic review by Jo-Ann Greene](https://www.allmusic.com/song/piece-of-my-heart-mt0003514400)
13. [Search results for "Piece of My Heart", Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/search/piece%20of%20my%20heart/?page=0)
14. [Wizkid & Brent Faiyaz – Piece Of My Heart (Single), Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1105363-wizkid-piece-of-my-heart.php)
15. [Hitmaker Bert Berns is posthumously included in Songwriters Hall of Fame, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/573269c9571dd5d963529b032128052c)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Shared-title song families and disambiguation*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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