Jimi Hendrix Trivia
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49 free Jimi Hendrix trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Jimi Hendrix played guitar for barely twelve years and changed the instrument for good. Born in Seattle in 1942, he learned on a one-string ukulele pulled from someone's trash, did a stint with the 101st Airborne, paid his dues on the Chitlin' Circuit behind the Isley Brothers and Little Richard, and was playing Greenwich Village clubs when Chas Chandler of the Animals flew him to London in September 1966. Within a year the Jimi Hendrix Experience had three UK top-ten singles, and a burning Stratocaster at Monterey had made him a star in America. This quiz follows the whole arc: childhood and the Army, the sideman years, the Experience and its three albums, the Monterey and Woodstock performances, Band of Gypsys, the studio he built in New York, his gear and effects, the Toronto trial, and the honours that followed his death in London at 27. Expect questions on who introduced him to whom, which tape he left in a taxi and what the London press called him after the Astoria. Fifty questions, four options each, with a short explanation after every answer. Play on your phone or print it for quiz night.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city was Hendrix born in 1942?
Seattle
Hendrix was born in Seattle on 27 November 1942; his father Al, stationed in Alabama, was locked in the Army stockade to stop him going AWOL to see the baby.
Q 02What was Hendrix's name at birth?
Johnny Allen
He was born Johnny Allen Hendrix; in 1946 his father Al renamed him James Marshall Hendrix, after himself and his late brother Leon Marshall.
Q 03What one-stringed instrument did the young Hendrix pull from a woman's rubbish in 1957?
A ukulele
The one-stringed ukulele, found while he helped his father clear an older woman's garbage, was his first instrument; he picked out Elvis Presley songs on it by ear, especially 'Hound Dog'.
Q 04How much did Hendrix pay for his first acoustic guitar in 1958?
$5
In mid-1958, aged 15, he bought his first acoustic guitar for $5 from a friend of his father; the first tune he learned was the 'Peter Gunn' television theme.
Q 05What was Hendrix's first electric guitar, bought by his father in 1959?
A white Supro Ozark
In mid-1959 his father Al bought him a white Supro Ozark, his first electric guitar; after it was stolen from backstage, Al replaced it with a red Silvertone Danelectro.
Q 06Which Army division was Hendrix assigned to after enlisting in 1961?
101st Airborne
Hendrix enlisted in May 1961 rather than face prison after twice being caught in stolen cars; posted to the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, he earned the Screaming Eagles patch as a paratrooper in January 1962.
Q 07Which bassist did Hendrix meet in the Army and later bring into Band of Gypsys?
Billy Cox
Billy Cox, a fellow soldier at Fort Campbell, heard Hendrix in an army club and called his playing a mix of 'John Lee Hooker and Beethoven'; he later anchored Band of Gypsys on bass.
Q 08Hendrix won first prize at an amateur contest at which venue in February 1964?
The Apollo Theater
In February 1964 Hendrix won first prize, $25, at the Apollo Theater's amateur night in Harlem, where he was living at the Hotel Theresa; soon after he joined the Isley Brothers' backing band.
Q 09Which rock-and-roll pioneer's touring band employed Hendrix until he was fired in 1965?
Little Richard
Hendrix played in Little Richard's touring band in 1965, clashing with him over lateness, wardrobe and stage antics until Richard's brother Robert Penniman sacked him that July.
Q 10What was the name of the band Hendrix formed in Greenwich Village in 1966?
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames
In mid-1966 Hendrix formed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in Greenwich Village, with 15-year-old Randy Wolfe, later Randy California of Spirit, on second guitar; the King Kasuals had been his earlier Tennessee band.
Q 11At which Greenwich Village club did Chas Chandler first see Hendrix play?
Cafe Wha?
Chas Chandler, tipped off by Linda Keith, Keith Richards's girlfriend, saw Hendrix at the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street in the summer of 1966 and resolved to take him to London.
Q 12Chas Chandler, who became Hendrix's manager, had been the bassist in which band?
The Animals
Chandler was the bassist of the Animals, the Newcastle band behind 'The House of the Rising Sun'; leaving to manage and produce, he flew Hendrix to London on 24 September 1966.
Q 13Who played bass in the Jimi Hendrix Experience?
Noel Redding
Noel Redding, a guitarist who had come to audition for the New Animals, was hired on bass in September 1966, partly because Hendrix liked his hairstyle.
Q 21After the Astoria stunt, the London press dubbed Hendrix the 'Wild Man of' where?
Borneo
The London press dubbed him the 'Wild Man of Borneo' and the 'Black Elvis' after the March 1967 Astoria show where he first set his guitar alight.
Q 22A British urban legend credits Hendrix with releasing which birds on Carnaby Street?
Parakeets
The legend says Hendrix freed a pair of ring-necked parakeets on Carnaby Street in 1968; a 2019 study mapping historical sightings of the feral birds found the story does not hold up.
Q 23What was the Experience's debut album?
Are You Experienced
Are You Experienced, released in May 1967, spent 33 weeks on the UK chart and peaked at number two; Rolling Stone ranked it 15th on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums.
Q 14Who was the Experience's drummer?
Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell, fired days earlier by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, won the Experience's drum stool in October 1966 on the toss of a coin against Aynsley Dunbar.
Q 15Which Howlin' Wolf song did Hendrix play when he jumped on stage with Cream in October 1966?
"Killing Floor"
Hendrix tore through Howlin' Wolf's 'Killing Floor' with Cream at Regent Street Polytechnic on 1 October 1966; Clapton said, 'He walked off, and my life was never the same again.' It also opened his Monterey set.
Q 16The Experience played their first shows in France supporting which singer?
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday, France's biggest rock star, took the Experience on a short French tour in October 1966; their 15-minute set at the Paris Olympia on 18 October is the band's earliest known recording.
Q 17The Who's managers signed the Experience to which newly formed label?
Track Records
Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, the Who's managers, signed the Experience in late October 1966 to their new Track Records label, with Polydor handling distribution; the label's first release came in March 1967.
Q 18What was the Experience's first single?
"Hey Joe"
'Hey Joe', released on 16 December 1966, was the Experience's first single and reached number six in the UK; the same song failed to chart as his first US single in 1967.
Q 19In which city did Hendrix first smash a guitar on stage, in November 1966?
Munich
At the Big Apple club in Munich in November 1966, fans pulled Hendrix off stage; scrambling back, he smashed his guitar in frustration, and Chandler, seeing the crowd's reaction, made it part of the act.
Q 20Which journalist suggested Hendrix set fire to his guitar, first done at the London Astoria?
Keith Altham
Hendrix had joked 'Maybe I can smash up an elephant'; the road manager was sent for lighter fluid.
Q 24Which album kept the debut off the top of the UK chart in 1967?
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band held the top spot; Hendrix returned the compliment by opening a Saville Theatre show with its title track on 4 June 1967, three days after release, with Beatles in the audience.
Q 25Which Beatle insisted the Monterey Pop Festival book the Experience?
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney agreed to join the Monterey festival's board only on condition that the Experience be booked, calling Hendrix 'an absolute ace on the guitar'.
Q 26Which Rolling Stone introduced Hendrix on stage at Monterey in June 1967?
Brian Jones
Brian Jones, who had befriended Hendrix in London, introduced him at Monterey on 18 June 1967 as 'the most exciting performer I've ever heard'; the set ended with his guitar in flames.
Q 27How old was Ed Caraeff when he took the famous photo of Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey?
17
Ed Caraeff was 17, a fan with one frame left on his roll who had never heard Hendrix's music; Rolling Stone colorized his shot of the burning guitar for a 1987 cover.
Q 28The Experience quit after six shows as opening act for which band's 1967 US tour?
The Monkees
The Monkees, who were fans, asked for the Experience as their opening act in July 1967, but their teenage audience was baffled; the Experience quit after six shows, and Chandler said he had planned it for the publicity.
Q 29Where did Hendrix lose the master tape of side one of Axis: Bold as Love?
In the back of a London taxi
Hendrix left the side-one master tape in the back of a London taxi in late 1967; most was remixed overnight, and 'If 6 Was 9' was rescued from Redding's wrinkled home tape, ironed flat.
Q 30The cover of Axis: Bold as Love depicts the band as avatars of which deity?
Vishnu
The cover copies a devotional painting of Vishnu, with the band's faces pasted onto the god's many forms; Hendrix objected that it ignored his Cherokee ancestry, saying he was not 'that kind of Indian'.