The rock icon Jimi Hendrix; if you haven’t heard of him, have you lived? I fell in love with him when I was young but really became interested in him in the seventh grade when I did a report on him and found out that he was a bad boy (making me, by association, cooler). Between Black Beauty, his Fender Stratocaster, and LSD, his drug of choice, Jimi became the eccentric star that he was; well, that and the untimely death that left a black hole in his place.

James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle on November 27th, 1942. From a young age, he had an interest in music drawing from stars at the time like Buddy Holly and BB King; he began teaching himself how to play music, and from that day on, the world was blessed. He learned to play on a five dollar acoustic guitar that his father had bought off of one of his friends and later on a Supro Ozark 1560S. In the summer of ’61, he enlisted in the Army and, while stationed, formed the band “The King Casuals.” After a parachute injury, he was discharged and began his journey into the music industry as a backup guitarist. When he realized his potential, he began his own band: Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. From there, he switched his name to “Jimi” and formed the ever so famous Jimi Hendrix Experience. This was truly the beginning of his career.

The discography of Jimi goes far beyond his performance at Woodstock. His best album (of course) is Are You Experienced which includes songs such as Voodoo Child, The Wind Cries Mary, and Foxey Lady. My personal favorites, though, are All Along the Watchtower and Purple Haze.

Jimi had been known for layering LSD under his headbands to be absorbed through slits on his forehead, and he went out in the same fashion. He joined the ranks of the 27 club on September 12th; he died from asphyxiation of his vomit after being intoxicated on sleeping pills. The most Jimi part of the whole thing was of course that his afro was soaked in red wine at his time of death.

This psychedelic, good hearted man died way to soon, but the things that he did accomplish in his too short life were beyond extraordinary. For more information on the love of my life, watch Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child on Netflix, and if you want to get chills, listen to Jimi’s performance at Woodstock