September 18, 1970 is the day a god died. Though his life was short, he will forever be remembered and loved. He stood 5’11and shooting out of his scalp was a black afro corralled only by his acid filled bandana. He was humble and shy in person, yet when he had a guitar; he would sling the power and reshape your ears. This god wore colorful clothes and led an even more colorful life. His 27 year reign changed music, culture, hearts, and history. The god’s name was Jimi Hendrix and 43 years ago he changed the world.

   In the beginning there was a baby named Johnny Allen Hendrix, born to a world of cold war turmoil and increasing racial tension. He was born in Seattle, Washington (November 19, 1942) to Al Hendrix and Lucile Jeter. Jimi grew up with his father after his mother left. They were a very poor family. It was hard growing up for Jimi because of their Cherokee, African American, and white ancestry. Jimi listened to Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and other blues and rockabilly bands. He played various stringed instruments and in 1959 Al bought him his first electric guitar, Supro Ozark. His first band was the Velvetones. Jimi played every day for hours on end obsessed with guitar and that was his key to being arguably the best guitarist ever to walk this earth.

   Jimi did not complete high school but enlisted at 19 to avoid being imprisoned for minor crimes. While in the air force he was taunted teased and physically abused. He again confided all his pain and sorrows to his guitar. While in the military he played in a band called the Casuals. He neglected most of his military duties to play guitar and was granted honorable discharge on June 29 1962.

   From 1963 to 1966 he played with many influential musicians such as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and Lonnie Youngblood. Then, he formed the “Jimi Hendrix Experience” in 1966 with the support and connections of his soon to be manager Chas Chandler, from the “Animals”. The “Jimi Hendrix Experience” consisted of: Noel Redding as bassist, Mitch Mitchell as drummer, and of course Jimi as guitarist and vocals. In 1969, “Jimi Hendrix Experience” broke up. That same year he was invited to play Woodstock. He was the highest paid rock-musician in the world at the time and was to close the show. By the time he went on the crowed had depleted immensely, numbering at only around 40,000 people. Despite the lack of enthusiasm for his new band, "Band of Gypsies", Jimi played astonishingly. His static 'jammy' style of the Star Spangled Banner was labeled as the anthem of the counter-culture movement of the 60’s.

   There is an end to every legend and Jimi’s was in September 18, 1970. After taking too many of his girlfriend’s sleeping pills, he asphyxiated and died. A quick flash and one of the most musically influential people of all time was gone. Though, because he was so influential, he will never die but live on through every album, every band who learns from him, and every person who hears his guitar and feels the ultimate power that Jimi new from the start that music has. Jimi was buried in Renton, Washington, October 1, 1970. October 1, 1970, the day the god of music died.