Jimi Hendrix T-ShirTS

Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Jimi Hendrix is considered one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock music history. After initial success in England, Jimi Hendrix achieved worldwide fame following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Jimi Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival before his death in 1970, at the age of 27.

A self-taught guitarist, Jimi Hendrix played a Fender Stratocaster guitar turned upside down (so that the right-handed guitar could be played left-handed) and restrung to suit him. Jimi Hendrix pioneered the technique of guitar feedback with overdriven amplifiers, incorporating into his music what was previously an undesirable sound. Jimi Hendrix built upon the innovations and influences of blues stylists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, and T-Bone Walker, and derived style from rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Chuck Berry, Steve Cropper, and Cornell Dupree, as well as from traditional jazz. Part of Jimi Hendrix' flamboyant stage persona may have been inspired by rock pioneer Little Richard, with whom he toured as part of Richard's back-up band, "The Upsetters". Jimi Hendrix is also widely thought to be influenced by Pete Townshend of The Who, a band performing in London when Jimi Hendrix started his career there. Carlos Santana has also suggested that Jimi Hendrix' music might have been influenced by his Native American heritage.

Jimi Hendrix strove 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, Jimi Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas; Jimi Hendrix was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects during recording.

Jimi 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, Jimi Hendrix' debut album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Preservation Board's National Recording Registry.