Jimi Hendrix was an influential American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter who won numerous awards for his contributions to rock music. He had an unstable childhood and joined the United States Army as an alternative to prison. He formed his most important band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, in 1966 and released four studio albums. He died at the age of 27 from barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of his own vomit. Despite his tragic end, his music continues to inspire musicians and fans alike.
Jimi Hendrix was an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has won numerous awards for his contributions to rock music, both during his lifetime and after his death at the age of 27. With a unique style that blended rock and roll, blues and funk, Jimi Hendrix was one of the most influential musicians in rock and roll history and his guitar playing skills are legendary.
Birth and Childhood
Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. His father was stationed at a United States Army camp in Oklahoma when he was born, and when his father returned home, he changed his new son’s name to James Marshall Hendrix. Jimi’s family life as a child was unstable. His family was poor and he was often sent away to stay with his extended family members or friends. One of his two brothers was handicapped and was raised by the state, and both of his sisters, who were also handicapped, were put up for adoption.
Hendrix’s parents divorced in 1952 and his mother died six years later. Around that time, Jimi bought his first guitar and began practicing almost constantly. His father gave him his first electric guitar the following year.
Early career
Jimi Hendrix’s first band was the Velvetones, followed by The Rocking Kings. After leaving high school, he got into legal trouble for driving in a stolen car. As an alternative to prison, he was allowed to join the United States Army. He enlisted on May 31, 1961 and was discharged after a year. At the rec center, he met bassist Billy Cox, with whom he would have a close personal and professional relationship for the rest of his life.
After leaving the Army, Hendrix and Cox moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and formed a band called The King Casuals, which played throughout the South for about two years. Hendrix’s experience in the South allowed him to develop his own style, but it was difficult to make a living. He moved to New York in 1964 for a change of scene. While there, he won first prize in an amateur competition at the Apollo Theater and joined the national tour of the Isley Brothers.
Hendrix supported Little Richard in 1965, but their personalities clashed and the engagement was short-lived. Throughout 1965 and 1966, Hendrix played in several bands before forming his own, Jimmy James and The Blue Flames. In the same year he founded his most important band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, with the help of the English producer Chas Chandler. The original band members were Hendrix and English musicians Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Hendrix performed and recorded his best remembered and most influential music with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The band released four studio albums, Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love in 1967, Electric Ladyland in 1968 and The Cry of Love in 1971 following Hendrix’s death. All four albums made the top five in the UK and US charts, and Electric Ladyland was No. 1 in the US
After gaining fame in England, The Jimi Hendrix Experience won many American fans through its performance at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, California. Hendrix famously broke and burned his guitar at the end of his set, a moment which was immortalized in the documentary Monterey Pop. The band toured Europe but Redding left in June 1969 and was replaced by Cox.
Other Projects
Although Cox had played with Hendrix since April 1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was defunct until 1970. Meanwhile, Hendrix had two short-lived projects, one called Gypsy Sun and Rainbows and the other called Band of Gypsys. With the former, he gave one of his most iconic performances, at Woodstock on August 18, 1969. His solo, improvised version of The Star-Spangled Banner was one of the breakthrough moments in his career.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience reunited for its Cry of Love tour in 1970, with Cox again replacing Redding. The band had a successful 30-show tour of the US and Hendrix, Cox and Mitchell had a short stint in Europe. Hendrix gave his last concert in Germany on September 6, 1970.
Death at 27
Hendrix died of barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of his own vomit on September 18, 1970, reportedly after an overdose of sleeping pills. Despite his tragic end at the age of 27, Hendrix’s music has continued to influence and inspire musicians and fans alike. In 1992 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. An album of unreleased songs that had hitherto been mostly unfinished, titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun, was released in 1997.
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