The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, formed in London during September 1966, united the American guitarist with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. Their debut Are You Experienced (1967) introduced feedback manipulation, backward tracking, and amplifier distortion as compositional tools rather than accidents. Hendrix absorbed blues from Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, filtering it through psychedelic experimentation that treated the Stratocaster as an orchestra.

The trio released Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland before dissolving in 1969, yet their 31-month existence recalibrated rock's sonic possibilities. Hendrix's virtuosity, expressed through harmonics, wah-wah modulation, and controlled noise, influenced everyone from Eddie Van Halen to Prince. His Woodstock performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" transformed the national anthem into protest art, capturing Vietnam-era dissonance.

As a Black artist dominating white rock spaces, Hendrix embodied cultural contradiction: celebrated by the counterculture whilst navigating racial expectations. His technique remains studied, his recordings perpetually reissued. He died in London, September 1970, aged 27, leaving an incomplete legacy that continues reshaping guitar language.