The Truth…

Rock & Roll certainly wouldn’t be where it is today without the help of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. To put it simply, he changed the game for guitarists all over the world with his prolific sound and style. Through his playing, charisma, and music, he was able to set rock music on the path to greatness. He was one of the best, pure and simple.

We could just go and on forever about how much of an impact Hendrix made on the world of music, but all of this you probably already knew. But the sad thing is, while he was essentially reshaping rock music, he was doing so while being robbed and working himself to the bone…

Many musicians will tell you that the life of being a famous touring musician is never an easy one. With really no downtime, no access to a decent meal, and a rigorous work schedule, this can all negatively affect the body and the mind. The same definitely happened with Hendrix, who essentially lived off of sleeping pills, alcohol, and psychedelic drugs during his tours, but matters were made WAY worse by something else, and that was his manager Chas Chandler.

Chas, former bassist for The Animals, managed The Jimi Hendrix Experience for the duration of their success and helped Hendrix and his band gain exposure all over the world essentially making them the world famous acts they would eventually become. The problem was that Chas grossly mishandled the band’s earnings and spent it all on himself.

At the height of their popularity, The Jimi Hendrix Experience were making roughly $100k per gig, which even today is a decent amount for a touring musician. Sadly, most of this money was not going to the band. Chas was keeping the majority of it for himself. Chas would regularly fly to the Bahamas and spend all of this money himself, while Hendrix reportedly usually only had two figures in his bank account.

This would essentially force Hendrix to have to work harder each night pulling off the crazy antics he was know for each night. This eventually burned him out completely. All this was in effort to try and get the same or a higher turnout each night to try and make up for the lost wages.

While this wasn’t the cause of his extreme substance abuse, it was very much a part of it. His friends and family attested to his noticeable unhappiness. Hendrix was overwhelmed and frustrated and it seemed that his only escape from the pain was drugs and alcohol. This would eventually lead to his death in 1970 where he choked on his own vomit as a result of an overdose.

Truly one of the saddest stories in all of rock & roll. One of the greatest careers in music shorted by blindside robbery and substance abuse. It just goes to show that you never truly know just who you can put your faith into…