Jimi Hendrix is set to feature on commemorative coins, after he was named Washington’s submission to the U.S. Mint American Innovation $1 Coin Program.
The program was first launched by the Mint in 2019 to honor innovators and innovations from all 50 states, with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs getting the nod for California, while Texas has honored NASA. The districts of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands are also set to be acknowledged as part of a 57-coin program.
Hendrix has become the first musician to be recognized so far, and given the electric guitar revolution he helped kickstart, he is a worthy representative of American music culture. He won the race after a committee had presented five finalists for Governor Bob Ferguson to choose from.
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“Picking just one example from the most innovative state in the nation was difficult, but Jimi Hendrix’s historic innovation on guitar and his deep roots in Washington make him a great choice to represent our state,” says Governor Ferguson.
Now his name has been submitted, the coin’s design will be drawn up. The Secretary of the Treasury will ultimately have the final say, with the coin set for a 2029 release.
The firebrand guitarist was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1942. But it was in the UK with a British backing band – after early-career stints playing with Little Richard, Buddy and Stacy, and the Isley Brothers – that he truly made his name with the Experience, stunning everyone from Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page and Paul McCartney on arrival.
His legacy cannot be understated. The Stratocaster poster boy – who currently sits in second place in Guitar World’s ranking of the world’s best players – was an early adoptee of guitar effects like, feedback, fuzz and wah, and took blues to new heights in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Decades after his death, many music lovers believe there are very few players that can lay a glove on him.
Last year, his take on Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower was voted the world’s best cover song, and it is a song that showcases his rhythm chops as well as his fiery leads.
In related Hendrix news, Orianthi was recently granted access to Hendrix’s archive and wrote a new song out of an unused riff with Power of 3, her new Hendrix-inspired trio.
