Music

Jimi Hendrix's relationship history from his teenage years to his death involved several women, many of whom became inspiration for songs of his including "The Wind Cried Mary."

Published on January 15, 2023

For decades, rockstars have been known for their often wild love lives in addition to their equally wild stage performances. Jimi Hendrix was beloved for his music, and the Seattle-raised guitarist and singer was also romantically involved with many women throughout his life, from girlfriends to flings in shared beds.

Jimi Hendrix’s relationship with Betty Jean Morgan in his teenage years

Hendrix entered his first relationship when he was in high school. He began dating Betty Jean Morgan and fell in love with her at the same time he was falling deeper in love with playing guitar. As a show of his love for Betty Jean, he painted her name on his first-ever electric guitar.

Morgan even had an effect on how Hendrix dressed. In Philip Norman’s 2020 book Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix, his brother Leon recounted when his brother’s style changed as his relationship with Morgan progressed.

“It started when he found a pigeon feather and stuck it on his guitar,” Leon recalled. “Then he painted it red, wrote ‘Betty Jean’ on the front and hung it with the little tassels you used to get on Seagram’s Seven whisky bottles.”

“Or he’d come onstage wearing a blouse,” Leon continued. “People used to ask me: ‘Where does Jimmy get his clothes from?’ and I’d say, ‘His girlfriend.’ That was out with the other guys in the band, who were only about conformity. He was a hippy before anyone knew what a hippy was.”

Jimi Hendrix’s relationship with Lithofayne ‘Faye’ Pridgeon

Hendrix’s original “Foxy Lady,” he began dating Lithofayne “Faye” Pridgeon back in 1963. At the time, Hendrix was working as a backup guitarist for major artists from Ray Charles to Little Richard. Their relationship would serve as the likely inspiration for Hendrix’s sexy song “Foxy Lady” from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 debut album Are You Experienced.

Kathy Etchingham inspired some of Hendrix’s songs

When Hendrix first arrived in London in 1966, he met local DJ Kathy Etchingham and quickly struck up a relationship with her. They dated for a total of two and a half years.

Etchingham was believed to Hendrix’s biggest muse, as their relationship served as inspiration for his music. “The Wind Cries Mary”, for example, stemmed from an argument the two had, while other songs such as “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)” and “Gypsy Eyes” are also believed to have been linked to Etchingham.

Hendrix dated Monika Dannemann until his death in 1970

In 1969, after the dissolution of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Hendrix began playing with other bands, he entered into a relationship with German figure skater Monika Dannemann. He met Dannemann in January 1969 in her native Germany after playing a concert there. The two would go on to become engaged, marking Hendrix’s first and only engagement in his life.

Hendrix descended deeper into addiction during his relationship with Dannemann. Hendrix died in September 1970 at the age of 27.

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