Pivotal moment for Jimi Hendrix.  Another perfectly good guitar up in flames.

James "Jimi" Hendrix (1942–1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is often considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators in the industry, and one of the most important and influential musicians of his era across a range of genres.

Monterey Pop, 1967.  Hendrix began pondering ancient rituals that required sacrifices in order to successfully appease the Gods. With that in mind, Hendrix began hunting around backstage during the Dead’s set for some lighter fluid. As Hendrix would later explain: “I decided to destroy my guitar at the end of a song as a sacrifice. You sacrifice things you love. I love my guitar.”

His fiery conclusion to his Monterey set propelled Hendrix and the Experience into the heights of American superstardom.  

 In 1966, Hendrix, who played and recorded with Little Richard's band from 1964 to 1965, was quoted as saying, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice." Carlos Santana has suggested that Hendrix's music may have been influenced by his partly Native American heritage. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects for rock recording. Hendrix won many of the most prestigious rock music awards in his lifetime, and has been posthumously awarded many more, including being inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2006, his debut US album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry, and Rolling Stone named Hendrix the top guitarist on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all-time in 2003. He was also the first person inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.