Jimi Hendrix was easily one of the greatest guitarists of his time.
Of course, if you ask anyone about him, they'll point to his solos, his iconic velvet jackets,
and his legendary Woodstock performance.
Yet for all his fame, Jimi Hendrix lived a brief and tragic life.
Jimi Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle during World War II.
His father, Al Hendrix, had married his mother Lucille the same year, and was drafted into
the army only three days after their marriage.
Johnny, meanwhile, was cared for by his maternal grandmother, Clarice.
Lucille became increasingly difficult for Al to contact, and the young Johnny was sent
off to a number of different women.
Al finally returned from the service in 1945 and met his 3-year-old son for the first time.
Worried that "Johnny Allen" was the name of a man with whom Lucille had been unfaithful,
Al changed his son's name to "James Marshall."
Al and Lucille's marriage was not a happy one.
Al had previously attempted to file for divorce during his time at war, but agreed to give
the marriage a shot after returning to the United States in 1945.
The two parents fought frequently often spurred on by day-long drinking binges and parties
at the expense of James and his younger brother Leon.
According to Leon, Al never became violent with Lucille, but Lucille herself, if angered,
would never hesitate to attack him with anything that came to hand.
Hendrix began his career as a musician by acting as a hired hand for a number of other
bands.
His first gig was in the basement of a Seattle synagogue, but it didn't last long: His stage
antics led him to be fired before the show was even over.
Soon, he joined his first band, The Velvetones.
But Hendrix's acoustic guitar proved unsuitable for the act, and he struggled to be heard
over the group's sound.
In 1959, Al Hendrix finally gave in and bought his son his first electric guitar: a white
Supro Ozark .
The Velvetones played for a few months before evolving into The Rocking Teens.
This band, in turn, became The Rocking Kings, and then Thomas and the Tom Cats.
Hendrix's burgeoning musical career was soon cut short, however, when he was arrested for
joyriding in 1961 at 18 years old.
Given the choice between prison and the U.S. Army, he chose the latter and was sent off
to basic training.
After serving a difficult stint in the 101st Airborne Division, Hendrix returned to civilian
life.
He worked as a backing musician for some of the era's biggest stars, including Wilson
Pickett and Sam Cooke.
In the early '60s, he moved to Harlem and joined The Upsetters, the backing group for
the legendary singer Little Richard.
Although he was sidelined in the band, Hendrix's natural flamboyance couldn't help but shine
through.
As a result, Richard and Hendrix clashed frequently.
Finally, in 1965, Hendrix was fired from the band.
Little Richard's loss was Jimi Hendrix's gain, however by 1966, he had been discovered and
signed by producer Chas Chandler.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was born only a few weeks later.
Jimi Hendrix's name has forever been associated with the drug counterculture in the United
States, and for good reason he experimented with LSD, cannabis, hashish, and a number
of other drugs during the heyday of his career.
Much like his parents, however, he was also a heavy drinker.
Sadly, Hendrix's addiction to drink and alcohol didn't just destroy his own life it destroyed
the lives of the women he knew.
Eric Burdon, a friend of Hendrix, once explained:
"One minute he's on stage singing about the mass of underdogs in America and the next
he's kicking the hell out of some poor chick in a back alley."
Tales of Hendrix's domestic violence against girlfriends and lovers are rife, with many
of them taking place during the musician's drinking binges.
One friend, Herbie Worthington, claimed that after drinking:
"He simply turned into a bastard."
Fame soon took its toll on Hendrix.
By 1970, he was facing problems in New York, where he had managed to aggravate a number
of gangsters who were associated with his manager.
He attempted to find solace with a tour of Europe, telling a journalist that:
"New York's killing me at the moment."
"The more money you make, the more blues sometimes you can sing."
He found no respite across the Atlantic, however.
Weary and disillusioned, he told a crowd at a show in Denmark on the European tour:
"I've been dead a long time."
Things finally came to a head at a festival in Germany, when Hendrix refused to perform
out of fear of being electrocuted on the wet stage.
When he finally showed up, it was to a chorus of boos and jeers from the crowd.
By the time he fled the event, the Hells Angels, who were providing security for the gig, had
set the stage on fire, shot a roadie, and attacked his tour manager.
The show would be his last.
On the night of September 17th 1970, Hendrix spent the evening partying with friends, before
heading home with his girlfriend, Monika Dannemann.
The two of them spent the rest of the night drinking red wine together.
At some point, Hendrix took some of Dannemann's sleeping pills nine full tablets, or 20 times
the recommended dose.
The next morning, Dannemann found him unresponsive and covered in his own vomit.
He was declared dead on the scene, his death ruled as the result of asphyxiation.
Hendrix was buried in Seattle after a private ceremony.