If the weather seems a little purple hazy today don’t fret. Earlier this year, you voted Jimi Hendrix into our Mount Rushmore of Seattle Music and it’s about time we gave the rock icon even more love.
Hendrix came to fame in the 60s San Francisco music scene, but he was born + raised here, learning his electrifying guitar licks as a young kid in the Central District.
Here’s where you can see his image and influence around town.
Broadway + Pine
Right outside a Capitol Hill art supply store you’ll find a bronze statue dedicated to the legendary guitarist striking a classic pose. Local artist Daryl Smith created it based on pics from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. It was unveiled in 1997.
MoPOP
Seattle’s museum dedicated to pop culture naturally has a whole collection of Hendrix-related artifacts. See the fragments of a Fender Stratocaster the musician smashed in London and a handwritten love poem he wrote to one-time flame Kathy Etchingham.
Jimi Hendrix Park
Near Garfield High where Hendrix went to school sits a park named after him. Visitors to the adjacent Northwest African American Museum can stroll the grounds outside to check out the park’s groovy “wave wall” and a chronological timeline of the artist’s life.
Site of Sick’s Stadium
On July 26, 1970, Hendrix played his final Seattle show at Rainier Valley’s former baseball stadium during a soggy day reminiscent of Woodstock. The site is now a Lowe’s, so you can pick up lumber while reminiscing.
Greenwood Memorial Park
Hendrix and his parents are buried at this Renton cemetery. The large granite memorial embellished with “rainbow” marble is hard to miss if you pay it a visit, as many fans do from far and wide. Hendrix’s funeral took place in Seattle 53 years ago.