Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Widely hailed by music fans and critics alike, Hendrix is considered to be one of the most influential electric guitarists in rock music history. more...

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He achieved worldwide fame in 1967 playing at the Monterey Pop Festival, then headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival before his sudden death in 1970, at the age of 27.

As a self-taught musician, the left-handed Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster guitar turned upside down and re-strung to suit him. As a rock guitarist, Hendrix exploited the sonic tool of feedback and the sound of overdriven guitars to an extent that previous pioneers never achieved. He built upon the innovations and influences of blues stylists such as B.B. King, Albert King and Buddy Guy, derived style from rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper and Cornell Dupree, as well as that of traditional jazz. Hendrix was also inspired by rock pioneer Little Richard, having toured in Richard's back-up band "The Upsetters" before forming his own rock group in 1966.

Hendrix strived to combine what he called "earth", a blues, jazz, or funk driven rhythm accompaniment, with "space", the high-pitched psychedelic sounds created by his guitar improvisations. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas; he was notably one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects during the recording process.

Hendrix was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6627 Hollywood Blvd.) was dedicated in 1994. In 2006, his debut album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Preservation Board's National Recording Registry. In 2003, Rolling Stone named Hendrix number one on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time".

Biography

Early life

Hendrix grew up as a shy and sensitive boy, deeply affected by the conditions of poverty and neglect in the slums of Seattle, Washington where he was raised, and by the troubling family events of his childhood - namely his parents' divorce when he was nine, and the death of his mother in 1958.

Young Hendrix was particularly fond of Elvis Presley and Little Richard; he attended an Elvis concert in 1957 and shook hands with Little Richard that same year. He was exposed to blues music early on from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Lightnin Hopkins with a boarder his father had rented a room to. He was also strongly impressed by the 1954 western Johnny Guitar, in which the hero carries no gun but instead wears a guitar slung behind his back.

Read more at Wikipedia.org