Jimi Hendrix Death Anniversary: Remembering The Famed Guitarist

Remembering Jimi Hendrix

Sept. 18 marks the anniversary of the death of famed guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Born in Seattle in 1942, the rocker died in 1970 at the age of 27.

43 years after his death, Hendrix's legacy lives on. Multiple posthumous albums have been released to pay tribute to the musician, and he is set to be immortalized in film in an upcoming biopic starring Outkast's Andre 3000.

To honor Hendrix, we've collected quotes from celebrities on the celebrated musician. Take a listen to Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" above and check out words on his legacy below.

"I took to him straightaway, just as a man. Then he asked if he could jam, and he came up and did 'Killing Floor,' the Howlin' Wolf tune. And it blew me away. I was floored by his technique and his choice of notes, of sounds. Ginger and Jack didn't take to it kindly. They thought he was trying to upstage me. But I fell in love, straightaway. He became a soul mate for me and, musically, what I wanted to hear." - Eric Clapton

"His music was so visual. When he played a song and wanted sea-gull sounds in it, he would get those sounds. If he wanted his guitar to sound like it was underwater, he could do that." - Kirk Hammett

"By chance, Jimi Hendrix came up the stairs and found me sitting there like some hick wallflower and grinned. He had to catch a plane to London to do the Isle of Wight Festival. When I told him I was too chicken to go in, he laughed softly and said that contrary to what people think, he was shy, and parties made him nervous. He spent a little time with me on the stairs and told me his vision of what he wanted to do with the studio. He dreamed of amassing musicians from all over the world in Woodstock and they would sit in a field in a circle and play and play. It didn’t matter what key or tempo or what melody, they would keep on playing through their discordance until they found a common language . Eventually they would record this abstract universal language of music in his new studio." - Patti Smith

"He was one of the best guitarists of all time, if not the best." - Joe Jonas

"I'd put a lot of work into playing guitar, and was thinking I was pretty damn good. But Hendrix came along and destroyed everyone." - Brian May

"One guy can ruin an instrument. Jimi Hendrix, bless his heart — how I wish he was still around — almost inadvertently ruined guitar. Because he was the only cat who could do it like that. Everybody else just screwed it up, and thought wailing away (on the guitar) is the answer. But it ain't; you've got to be a Jimi to do that, you've got to be one of the special cats." - Keith Richards

"I started out playing guitar because Jimi Hendrix was my hero, so my roots were really based on Jimi Hendrix and his style of playing." - Joe Satriani

"The most influential person in my life, other than my parents." - Dave Navarro

"I'd never seen anybody play like that. It was terrifying, traumatic, an epiphany! I said, 'This is what I want to aspire to. I'll never be Jimi Hendrix, but I can do something." - Sting

"I fuckin' love Hendrix. He's all-encompassing. His song-writing ability was amazing, his leads were genius – he was so far ahead of his time." - Mike McCready

"Hendrix is one of the most revolutionary figures in today's pop culture, musically and sociologically." - Frank Zappa

"He was very self-effacing about his music but then when he picked up that guitar he was just a monster." - Paul McCartney

"Jimi Hendrix was just so fluid. His hands were connected to his soul, you know? His playing was just so emotional. You could feel the fire, you could feel the blues. You could feel the sadness. It's unbelievable." - Lenny Kravitz

L'Wren Scott

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