Jimi Hendrix Dies

1970

Jimi Hendrix is found dead in his basement. He had taken nine pills of the barbiturate Vesparax, that along with alcohol, caused a fatal overdose.

Hendrix is 27 when he dies in a girlfriend's house in Notting Hill, London. The guitarist and singer had a history of drug use: a year earlier he appeared in court in Canada, where he was acquitted of possession of hashish and heroin but admitted using marijuana, cocaine and LSD. His death comes a fortnight after that of Canned Heat founder Alan Wilson - also from an overdose of sleeping pills - and within a year he will be joined by Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison (all are 27 when they die). Hendrix had been struggling with a recent influenza-like illness, exacerbated by exhaustion caused by a lack of sleep and overwork on a recent tour of Germany with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He had fallen out with his manager, Michael Jeffery, and was also embroiled in two legal battles - a paternity suit and a dispute with his record label. The post mortem investigation finds that Hendrix has asphyxiated on his own vomit after taking 18 times the recommended dose of barbiturates, but despite media speculation that he has committed suicide, the coroner records an open verdict. Despite only recording three studio albums before his death - Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968) - Hendrix is widely acknowledged as being one of the greatest guitar players of all time. His unique sound is partly due to his unorthodox playing style: unlike most left-handed guitarists who string their instruments in mirror image, he simply flips a regular guitar upside down. A natural showman, he is known for playing the guitar behind his head, picking out notes with his teeth, and even on occasion lighting his instrument on fire at the climax of his shows. A year before his death, Hendrix told a reporter, "I tell you when I die I'm going to have a funeral. I'm going to have a jam session. And, knowing me, I'll probably get busted at my own funeral." This prediction almost comes true at his wake beneath the Seattle Space Needle, thanks to childhood friend and promoter Tom Hulett. After a full set from The Buddy Miles Express, Miles Davis is joined on stage by Experience members Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, who improvise together into the early evening, with Hendrix's cousin Eddie Hall playing guitar.