Jimi Hendrix

Born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle on 27 November 1942 and later renamed James Marshall Hendrix, he was the guitarist, singer and songwriter who redefined what an electric guitar could be made to do. He died in London on 18 September 1970, aged 27. The Melody Maker conversation that produced this line catches him in a sardonic mood about the music business — in the same interview he complained that the trade sees a fast buck and turns the performer into a slave to the public.