The legacy of Jimi Hendrix has long outlived his 27 years on earth. Releasing only three projects plus a live album, Hendrix is the most lauded guitar player in music history. Since his death in 1970, more than 10 posthumous Hendrix albums have been released, alongside accolades including an induction into the Rocking Roll Hall of Fame.
Born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942, the Seattle native learned to play the guitar as a teenager and may have had no idea how the instrument would shape his life. Hendrix left a cross-genre mark on the industry that has stood the test of time.
Drake has noted him as an inspiration, and with the forthcoming biopic starring Andre 3000 on the brink of release, there’s no denying his appeal. “I didn’t look at him as an icon because when you’re in it, you don’t know you’re an icon. You don’t know you’re an icon until another people say you’re an icon,” 3000 said in an interview. “So I had to take it as a person, you know what I mean? And I just tried to say, `Well, what would Jimi want people to know that they can’t get off of YouTube?’ And that’s how I approached it,”
In honor of what would have been Hendrix’s 70th birthday, take a look at 10 interesting facts that you may not have known about the guitar legend.
**Additional reporting by Kristen Gray.
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Photo: karen civil
He played the guitar upside-down because he was left-handed.
His manager, Michael Jeffrey, had him kidnapped for two days by New York mobsters, and then “rescued” him to try to bolster his role as manager.
After his father returned from the army, he changed Hendrix’s name from Johnny Allen to Jimi Marshall, in honor of his late brother.
He earned only $.35 for his first gig at a National Guard Armory.
In elementary school he carried a broom around to imitate a guitar.
He couldn’t read music, and instead communicated his musical visions to his bands through colors.
His “Purple Haze” record wasn’t about drugs, but about Jesus saving him in a dream. The song was originally titled Purple Haze Jesus Saves.
He joined the Army at age 17, faked being gay, and was discharged after 14 months.
There are three statues of him, one in Seattle, one outside Dimbola Lodge, and in Kielce, Poland.
