Hendrix Psychadelia, 2021

Rock artist Jimi Hendrix had a relatively short and yet incredibly successful music career before his notoriously early demise. I was not aware of much about him, except some songs and his sometimes novel performance stunts such as playing guitar behind his back, or with his teeth. It was interesting to find out more on his rise to fame; although very talented he definitely put in the hard yards playing on and releasing many recordings before luck, as it often does, propelled him to global success. It definitely ended up being a ‘who you know’ scenario as it often is. He achieved 6 hit albums in 8 years before his accidental death from barbiturate poisoning in 1970. Hendrix melded parts of Romany, militaria, religious iconography, psychedelia and thrift shop to create a new style that has had a wide influence on other artists and endured for more than half a century.