50 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city was Hendrix born in 1942?
Seattle
His father Al was in the Army stockade in Alabama at the time, locked up to stop him going AWOL to see the baby.
Q 02What was Hendrix's name at birth?
Johnny Allen
His parents renamed him James Marshall in 1946, after his father and a late uncle.
Q 03What one-stringed instrument did the young Hendrix pull from a woman's rubbish in 1957?
A ukulele
He picked out Elvis songs on it by ear, especially 'Hound Dog'.
Q 04How much did Hendrix pay for his first acoustic guitar in 1958?
$5
He was 15; the first tune he learned was the 'Peter Gunn' TV theme.
Q 05What was Hendrix's first electric guitar, bought by his father in 1959?
A white Supro Ozark
When 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
He enlisted rather than face prison after twice being caught in stolen cars, and earned the Screaming Eagles patch as a paratrooper.
Q 07Which bassist did Hendrix meet in the Army and later bring into Band of Gypsys?
Billy Cox
He heard Hendrix playing in an army club and described his style as 'John Lee Hooker and Beethoven'.
Q 08Hendrix won first prize at an amateur contest at which venue in February 1964?
The Apollo Theater
He was living at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem at the time, and soon 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
They clashed over lateness, wardrobe and stage antics; the star's brother Robert finally sacked him.
Q 10What was the name of the band Hendrix formed in Greenwich Village in 1966?
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames
It included future Spirit guitarist Randy California; the Kasuals were his earlier Tennessee band.
Q 11At which Greenwich Village club did Chas Chandler first see Hendrix play?
Cafe Wha?
Chandler liked the song 'Hey Joe' and was convinced he could make a hit of it with the right artist.
Q 12Chas Chandler, who became Hendrix's manager, had been the bassist in which band?
The Animals
He was leaving the group to manage and produce artists, and took Hendrix to London on September 24, 1966.
Q 13Who played bass in the Jimi Hendrix Experience?
Noel Redding
He had turned up to audition as a guitarist for the New Animals; Hendrix reportedly liked his hairstyle.
Q 21After the Astoria stunt, the London press dubbed Hendrix the 'Wild Man of' where?
Borneo
They also called him the 'Black Elvis'.
Q 22A British urban legend credits Hendrix with releasing which birds on Carnaby Street?
Parakeets
A study that mapped historical sightings of the feral birds found the story is not true.
Q 23What was the Experience's debut album?
Are You Experienced
It spent 33 weeks on the UK chart, peaking at number two, and Rolling Stone later ranked it the 15th greatest album ever.
Which album kept the debut off the top of the UK chart in 1967?
Q 14Who was the Experience's drummer?
Mitch Mitchell
He had just been fired from Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, and had once taken drum lessons from amp maker Jim Marshall.
Q 15Which Howlin' Wolf song did Hendrix play when he jumped on stage with Cream in October 1966?
"Killing Floor"
Eric Clapton later 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
Their 15-minute set at the Paris Olympia on October 18, 1966, is the earliest known recording of the band.
Q 17The Who's managers signed the Experience to which newly formed label?
Track Records
Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp signed them in late October 1966; Polydor handled distribution.
Q 18What was the Experience's first single?
"Hey Joe"
Released in December 1966, it peaked at number six in the UK; the same song flopped as his first US single.
Q 19In which city did Hendrix first smash a guitar on stage, in November 1966?
Munich
He was scrambling back from a crowd that had pulled him off stage; Chandler saw the reaction and 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.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Hendrix returned the compliment by opening a Saville Theatre show with its title track three days after it came out, with McCartney watching.
Q 25Which Beatle insisted the Monterey Pop Festival book the Experience?
Paul McCartney
He joined the festival's board on condition that Hendrix, 'an absolute ace on the guitar', was on the bill.
Q 26Which Rolling Stone introduced Hendrix on stage at Monterey in June 1967?
Brian Jones
He called him 'the most exciting performer I've ever heard'; the set ended with the guitar in flames.
Q 27How old was Ed Caraeff when he took the famous photo of Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey?
17
He had one frame left on his roll and had never heard Hendrix's music; Rolling Stone colorized it for a 1987 cover.
Q 28The Experience quit after six shows as opening act for which band's 1967 US tour?
The Monkees
The headliners were fans; their young audience was not. Chandler later said he set it up 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
Most of side one was remixed overnight; 'If 6 Was 9' was rescued from a wrinkled tape of Redding's that had to be ironed flat.
Q 30The cover of Axis: Bold as Love depicts the band as avatars of which deity?
Vishnu
Hendrix said it should have reflected his American Indian heritage instead: 'I'm not that kind of Indian.'