On June 10, New York City honored guitar legend Jimi Hendrix by renaming West 8th Street as Jimi Hendrix Way. Fans gathered at the corner of W. 8th Street and 6th Avenue to honor the guitar hero, whose visage adorned the corner building’s walls. A host of special guests, including “Little” Steven Van Zandt, guitarist Vernon Reid, and producer Eddie Kramer, who collaborated with Hendrix on all his records, were on hand to deliver remarks about Hendrix’s influence and lasting legacy.
Hendrix revolutionized art in the late ’60s, propelling rock and roll to new heights with his soulful and then unheard of manipulation of six strings. Hendrix drew from his roots, playing blues, funk, jazz, and R&B, fusing their sensibilities during a psychedelic and tense socio-political climate during the 1960s. A Black American with Cherokee blood who laid roots down in Seattle, Nashville, and eventually NYC, Hendrix’s experience is a cultural amalgamation — and his art, in a sense, a reflection of America.
Fans gathered at corner of West 8th St. and 6th Ave. on June 10 to witness unveiling of Jimi Hendrix Way, mere steps from Electric Lady Studios, where the famed guitarist recorded his last sessions. “Little” Steven Van Zandt, Eddie Kramer, Vernon Reid (pictured), and Janie Hendrix (pictured) were onsite for the big reveal. (Credit: Johnny Knollwood photos)
The re-naming ceremony took place steps away from Electric Lady Studios. The late musical pioneer, who influenced generations of guitar players, commissioned the studio in 1968 and held his last recording sessions there before his untimely death from an overdose in 1970, at the age of 27. Kramer, who built the studio to Hendrix’s specifications and engineered a slew of historically monumental albums there by artists including Led Zeppelin and Kiss, took time to reflect on his relationship with the monumental musician. “Jimi would walk from his apartment on 12th Street, carrying his guitar, with the big hat and the feather sticking up — nobody bothered him,” Kramer told the crowd. “He was respected enormously. He would get over to the studio, the door would open, he would go down and create the most amazing music.”
Reid echoed a similar sentiment in an Instagram post. “This is the place where Jimi Hendrix got free,” he said. Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s stepsister (adopted by his father) and head of Experience Hendrix, the company that manages Jimi’s estate, was also onsite for the big reveal, pulling the string alongside Van Zandt, who is introducing Hendrix-based curriculum into schools through his program “Teach Rock,” an educational initiative that champions access to musical resources for children. “Hendrix will be taught in schools,” he told the crowd.
Stay up to date with Hendrix’s legacy at jimihendrix.com.
