London museum calls on Jimi Hendrix fans to share memories and memorabilia

Handel & Hendrix in London cares for and presents to the public the homes of two of the greatest musicians ever to have lived in London.

Jimi Hendrix lived in a flat at 23 Brook Street, Mayfair, from 1968-69 with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, a time when he and his band – the Jimi Hendrix Experience – were changing the shape of rock music for ever. Here, in the only place he said he felt truly at home, Hendrix entertained, inspired and collaborated with other icons of British 60s rock music. Jimi and Kathy knew that, more than 200 years before they moved in, the great baroque composer G.F. Handel had lived in the adjoining 25 Brook Street from 1723 until his death in 1759.

Handel & Hendrix in London has begun a £3million project to restore all of Handel’s home and to make new exhibitions about the life and music of both Handel and Jimi Hendrix. Currently closed for refurbishment, the museum will re-open on Thursday, May 18, 2023.

As part of a new exhibition about Jimi Hendrix’s music and influence, the museum hopes to source people’s memories and personal photographs of times they experienced Jimi at a gig, in a club or just out and about. The memories and images will be captured on a dedicated webpage and a selection will be included in an exciting new documentary film played in the exhibition. The museum wants to create a film that truly evokes the world Hendrix lived in, so snaps of fans at gigs are as welcome as photographs of the legendary guitarist himself.

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."

Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville then Nashville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the chitlin' circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the US.