Today We Remember It Was 52 Years Ago Jimi Hendrix Died At The Age Of 27 on September 18, 1970
On September 18th, 1970 the world awoke without Jimi Hendrix in it for the first time in 27 years. He’d died early that morning and was found in bed at his girlfriend Monika Dannemann’s flat at Notting Hill’s Samarkand Hotel, the victim of an apparent death by barbiturate overdose.
Jimi Hendrix died about two months shy of his 28th birthday. Five decades later, the events surrounding his death remain sketchy at best, with the only clear fact being that the coroner report stated that Hendrix had asphyxiated in his own vomit, which mainly consisted of red wine. Monika Dannemann, his girlfriend at the time, has long contended that he was alive when placed in the ambulance.
Three years and some change after releasing his debut LP, Are You Experienced. Because he finished only three other albums in his 27 years — two more studio sets with backing band the Experience (Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland) and one live record with Band of Gypsys.
On the evening of September 17, 1970, Eric Clapton walked up the steps to Lyceum Theatre in London. He carried with him a white, left-handed Fender Stratocaster guitar. The guitar he held was intended as a gift for Jimi Hendrix, who he’d planned to meet at the theatre. The meeting never took place. The guitar remained with Clapton and, several hours later, Hendrix was found dead in his girlfriend’s hotel room.
Later, in an interview with the BBC, Clapton claimed he had seen Hendrix that night across the other side of the theatre, sitting in a private box.
It was a strange recollection given that all the available evidence suggests Hendrix never made it to the Lyceum that night. But the Clapton story is just one of many contested versions of Jimi Hendrix’s last night alive.
Videos: Eric Clapton Discusses the Death of Jimi Hendrix (1970’s) https://youtu.be/wMxTny2LY04
The last 24 hours of Jimi Hendrix https://youtu.be/uwheLSb9zss
Hendrix’s last concert tour were part of a 37-date American and European tour, that started on April 25 and 26 in Inglewood and Santa Barbara, California. The American leg ended in Hawaii on Aug. 1 and then the band spent much of August working on “The Cry of Love” LP, before launching the European leg with the famous Isle of Wight performance on Aug. 31. The tour ended in early September at Germany’s Love & Peace Festival and less than two weeks later, Hendrix was found dead in London.
Hendrix’s net worth was $5 million when he died — and $175 million in 2019. When Hendrix passed away, his fortune was worth more than $800,000 in 1970 dollars, or the equivalent of $5 million in 2019.
And while Hendrix’s flame was extinguished early, his influence has proved he is in our hearts, minds and still lives on. Thank you for your musical contributions and making our teenage years memorable.
Below Jimi Hendrix Sets Guitar On Fire at Monterey Pop Festival 1967 . . .
