The Rose (soundtrack) The Rose (soundtrack) The Rose is the soundtrack to the feature film of the same name starring Bette Midler which was released in 1979. Midler performs all the songs on the album, with the exception of the instrumental "Camellia". Apart from the title track, the soundtrack was entirely recorded live and also features concert monologues, with Midler portraying the character The Rose, loosely based on blues singer Janis Joplin. The soundtrack was produced by Paul A. Rothchild, who in fact also had worked with Joplin on what was to become her final album before her death in 1970, entitled "Pearl"
Janis Joplin (during the year she had spent at the University of Texas at Austin, Joplin had been voted "Ugliest Man on Campus" by frat boys ). In the subsequent "Cavett Show" broadcast, on August 3, 1970, Joplin discussed her upcoming performance at the Festival for Peace to be held at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, three days later. On August 7, 1970, a tombstone—jointly paid for by Joplin and Juanita Green, who as a child had done housework for Bessie Smith—was erected at Smith's previously unmarked grave. The following day, the Associated Press circulated this news, and the August 9