Jimi Hendrix was one of the greatest guitar players the world has ever known. His sounds and shows changed rock music forever. But behind his genius was a complicated life — and, sadly, a very sad ending. One of the people who knew him during his final days was Ronnie Wood, who later became famous as the guitarist for Faces and The Rolling Stones. Wood shared personal memories that help us see Hendrix not just as a music legend, but as a human being.
Friends in the London Scene
Back in the late 1960s, London was a magnet for music talent. Hendrix had already started making waves as a guitar genius, and Ronnie Wood was just beginning to get noticed. Before Wood joined Faces and later The Rolling Stones, he was in a band called The Birds. That’s where he first met Hendrix when both were still finding their paths.
Wood remembered Hendrix as sweet and polite — not the wild, out-of-control rock star that some people imagine. In fact, Wood said he would ask Jimi how his shows were going, and Hendrix would shrug and say something humble like, “The guitar was okay, man, but my voice… I really can’t sing.” Wood always encouraged him, telling Hendrix that he sounded great and that his voice fit perfectly with the way he played guitar.
Seeing the Struggles Behind the Music
As time went on, both Wood and Hendrix found success in the British rock world. But success didn’t make life easier for Hendrix. Like many musicians of his time, he struggled with drug and alcohol use, and his health began to suffer. Wood later described how he saw that deterioration — and how close he was to Hendrix in the final moments before his death.
In one powerful memory, Wood recalled being with Hendrix at Ronnie Scott’s — a famous jazz club in London — on the very night Hendrix died. Wood said he saw Hendrix walking down the stairs with his arm around a woman. When Wood called out to him to say goodbye, Hendrix turned slowly, barely aware of what was happening, and gave him a small wave. Wood realized in that moment that something was off. It was the last time Hendrix would ever be seen alive.
What Really Happened After That Night
After that evening, Hendrix’s life took a tragic turn. Over the next day or so, he spent time mostly with his girlfriend at the time, Monika Dannemann, a German artist. Most accounts agree that on the night of September 17, 1970, the pair were together in London. Some reports say they shared wine and conversation into the early morning hours.
The next morning, Monika found Hendrix unresponsive in her apartment at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill. She called for an ambulance, and he was taken to St. Mary Abbots Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 12:45 p.m. on September 18, 1970. The official cause was that he choked on his own vomit after taking too many barbiturate sleeping pills, though the exact details remain partly unclear.
A Legacy That Still Matters
Jimi Hendrix was only 27 years old when he died. In that short life, though, he reshaped what the electric guitar could do. People still listen to his music today because his sound was unlike anything before it — expressive, fiery, emotional, and completely original.
Ronnie Wood’s memory of Hendrix shows another side of the rock star: the shy, humble musician who doubted his voice and fought personal battles behind the scenes. It’s a reminder that even the most brilliant artists are human, with real struggles and real feelings.
So when we talk about Hendrix, let’s remember both his genius and his humanity — the music he gave the world, and the life he lived in the spotlight, surrounded by friends like Ronnie Wood who saw both his highs and his lows.