Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle in 1942 and taught himself guitar as a teenager, playing along to blues records. After a stint as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army, he spent years on the rhythm-and-blues circuit backing artists such as Little Richard and the Isley Brothers. In 1966 he moved to London, where the newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience stunned the British music scene almost overnight.

His debut album Are You Experienced, released in 1967, redefined what the electric guitar could do, blending blues, feedback, and studio experimentation into something entirely new. A celebrated performance at the Monterey Pop Festival introduced him to American audiences, and Electric Ladyland reached number one in 1968. His dawn rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock in 1969 became one of the defining musical statements of its era.

Hendrix died in London in September 1970 at the age of 27, from an accidental overdose of prescription medication. In barely four years of fame he had recorded three landmark studio albums and permanently expanded the vocabulary of his instrument. Generations of guitarists across rock, jazz, and beyond still measure themselves against his imagination, and his recordings remain a benchmark of fearless musical invention.

American guitarist, singer, and songwriter widely regarded as the most inventive electric guitarist in the history of popular music, despite a mainstream career of only four years.