TEXAS — It may be hard to believe but Friday marked 50 years since the world lost music icon Jimi Hendrix. The pioneering guitarist, writer, arranger, singer, and studio innovator was only 27 years old when he died on September 18, 1970.

Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1942, the towering rock figure really only enjoyed four years in the spotlight, along the way playing landmark shows such as Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festival and recording game-changing albums including Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love.

Fifty years later Hendrix still tops “greatest guitarist” lists. He influenced generations of players, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, and Robin Trower, just to name a few.

While other ’60s rock, blues, and soul guitar icons pioneered techniques and styles Hendrix incorporated – Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Curtis Mayfield, among others – none of them combined them into the complete package the way Jimi Hendrix did.

Hendrix headlined several Texas venues from 1968-1970, sometimes with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience and sometimes without. He introduced audiences to Texas’s own ZZ Top along the way.

Below is a list of venues Hendrix played, though it is likely not exhaustive. Prior to going solo, he backed acts including the Isley Brothers and Wilson Pickett, and those dates are not included here. You’ll find that Hendrix’s gigs were mostly in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio.

• Thursday, February 15, 1968
• Municipal Auditorium
• San Antonio
• With ZZ Top and Soft Machine

 

• Saturday, February 27, 1968
• Will Rogers Coliseum Auditorium
• Fort Worth

 

• Sunday, February 18, 1968
• Sam Houston Coliseum
• Houston
• With ZZ Top

 

• Friday, August 2, 1968
• Municipal Auditorium
• San Antonio

 

• Saturday, August 3, 1968
• Moody Coliseum
• Dallas

 

• Sunday, August 4, 1968
• Sam Houston Coliseum
• Houston

 

• Saturday, April 19, 1969
• Sam Houston Coliseum
• Houston

 

• Sunday, April 20, 1969
• Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
• Dallas
• With The Jimi Hendrix Experience

 

• Saturday, May 9, 1970
• Will Rogers Coliseum Auditorium
• Fort Worth

 

• Sunday, May 10, 1970
• HemisFair Arena
• San Antonio
• With The Jimi Hendrix Experience

 

• Friday, June 5, 1970
• Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
• Dallas
• With the Jimi Hendrix Experience

 

• Saturday, June 6, 1970
• Sam Houston Coliseum
• Houston
• With The Jimi Hendrix Experience