What Happened to the Members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience?
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was a group formed in the mid-1960s and lasted three years. The band was one of the most well-known names in psychedelic rock. The band solidified itself into the rock and roll canon with hits such as “Hey Joe” and “Purple Haze,” the band solidified itself into the rock and roll canon. It consisted of three members: Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar, Noel Redding on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. But, what happened to the members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience?
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. By the age of 15, he was playing guitar daily, and by the time he was 18, he was looking for ways to play professionally. He started playing in Nashville, which is where he met Little Richard. He joined that band for a while but soon moved on to Curtis Knight and The Squires, which led him to London in 1966.
A few months later, Hendrix had officially formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The band’s first three singles include some of their most well-known hits: “Hey Joe,” Purple Haze,” and “The Wind Cries Mary.”
With the band, Hendrix’s career took off. He and the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed at some of the most iconic concerts and festivals of the late 1960s, including The Monterey Pop Festival and The Isle of Wight Festival.
Hendrix was a solo act when he performed at Woodstock in August 1969, where he famously played the national anthem. On September 18, 1970, he died due to asphyxia caused by an overdose of prescribed sleeping pills.
Noel Redding
Noel Redding met Jimi Hendrix as he was beginning to form a band of his own. Redding was a British musician and joined the Jimi Hendrix Experience as the bass player. Throughout the band’s existence, Hendrix did have a habit of playing with other musicians and failed to consult his bandmates to expand the group with more musicians. Redding decided to quit the band on June 29, 1969. In 1970 the band was to be reunited, but Redding was not asked back to play bass. Instead, he was replaced by Billy Cox.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was not the only band that Redding was involved with. He was also the founding member of Fat Mattress. He completed only one album with the band. He also went on to form the Noel Redding Band in the early 1970s. He continued to play music throughout his life, though he wouldn’t succeed as in his early career. Redding died in May 2003, just a few weeks after his mother had passed.
Mitch Mitchell
Along with Redding, Mitch Mitchell was a British-born musician. Mitchell was also a child actor, starring in the children’s television show Jennings at School. Through a part-time job at a drum shop, Mitchell learned how to play the drums and became a touring and session musician for various bands. Just before Mitchell met Hendrix, he was playing with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.
Mitchell joined the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966, but he wasn’t asked to join based solely on his talent. He was competing with Aynsley Dunbar, and Mitchell won his spot in the band through a simple coin toss. Even when Redding left, Mitchell stayed a part of the band, joining Hendrix on stage for his Woodstock performance.
Mitchell also joined the Dirty Mac’s short-lived band, the one-off supergroup created for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Other band members included John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.
After the death of Hendrix, Mitchell continued to work on producing and releasing the last of Hendrix’s incomplete recordings. After that was completed, Mitchell only occasionally played and recorded music for the rest of his life. He died in 2008 of natural causes while participating in the Experience Hendrix Tour.
These great artists will forever be remembered for their work with The Jimi Hendrix Experience and their contribution to the music industry.
