Hendrix, Jimi (James Marshall Hendrix), 1942–70, African-American rock guitarist, b. Seattle, Wash. Hendrix, in his short musical career, was known for an innovative and extremely influential guitar style that involved the explosive, yet often sensitively nuanced, use of feedback, distortion, and other electronically manipulated sound effects. His recordings include the albums Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968). He toured with his bands The Experience (1967–69) and Band of Gypsys (1969–70) and appeared at both the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock.

Bibliography

See biographies by C. R. Cross (2005) and S. Lawrence (2005).

Hendrix, Jimi

byname of James Marshall Hendrix

(born Nov. 27, 1942, Seattle, Wash., U.S.—died Sept. 18, 1970, London, Eng.) U.S. blues and rock guitarist (see rock music). Of mixed black-Cherokee ancestry, the left-handed Hendrix taught himself to play the guitar, which he held upside down. He served as an army paratrooper and later toured as guitarist for Little Richard and others. In 1966 he moved to London and formed a trio, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which rapidly became popular in Europe. His sensational appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the success that year of the album Are You Experienced? lifted him to instant stardom, and his subsequent albums were among the most influential of the 1960s. He died at age 27 of an apparently accidental overdose of barbiturates.

Hendrix, (James Marshall) Jimi (1942–70) musician; born in Seattle, Wash. One of the tragic figures of 1960s popular music, he was a highly innovative blues-rock guitarist, and one of the handful of black musicians to gain wide popularity in rock. Upon discharge as an air force paratrooper in 1961, he appeared as a sideman with Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Isley Brothers. In 1965 he formed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in New York. The following year, he moved to London where he formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience and recorded his first hit album, Are You Experienced? Between 1967 and his death from an overdose of barbiturates, he was a major recording artist and concert attraction.