First there was the Beatles. Then there was Green Day. Now, say hello to Jimi Hendrix! The guitar legend is the next in line to be digitized in the upcoming artist-based edition of the Rock Band series. Although MTV Games has not confirmed the news, Janie Hendrix, the late music icon’s half-sister and controlling force behind his estate, has reportedly signed a deal immortalizing the ‘Purple Haze’ singer forever in the video game world. I can’t wait for this one. Any true music fan would love to have even just a game comparison with a legend like Jimi. I wonder when it will come out.
People are really going crazy for old Jimi Hendrix memorabilia. The first guitar that the rock icon ever burned on stage just got sold at an auction in London for $495,000. It was his 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar that he torched after a performance in 1967 at London’s Finsbury Astoria. The director of acquisitions at the Fame Bureau rock memorabilia firm which organized the auction said that the burning of the guitar was a watershed in live performance. After the torching, the guitar was taken to the offices of Hendrix’s aide Tony Garland and was later kept in the garage of Garland’s parents’ home in Southern England. It was only last year when Garland’s nephew found the guitar.
Jimi Hendrix is set to be immortalized in a computer game.
The legendary guitar player will be revived in the latest edition of ‘Guitar Hero’ which is due to be released in the autumn.
The ‘Foxy Lady’ singer – who died after drowning in his own vomit, after taking prescription drugs and drinking red wine in 1970 aged just 27 – will feature as a playable character in the game.
His song ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ and a live version of ‘Purple Haze’ recorded in 1969 at the San Diego Sports Arena will feature on ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’, with more of the rocker’s back catalogue available as downloadable content.
The fourth version of the game will include an eight-player Battle of the Bands feature which allows two groups – each boasting drums, guitars and microphones – to compete against each other.
Many bands have enjoyed a new lease of life after allowing their songs to be used on the game. Legendary heavy metal group Iron Maiden reported a surge in downloads after several of their tracks, including the classic ‘Run To The Hills’, were featured.
A drum featured on the cover of The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album has sold for over $1,000,000 at auction.
The hand-painted bass drum was among a collection of 60s memorabilia which in total fetched over $2 million at auction yesterday.
The percussion instrument sold for $1,082,500, four times its original estimate. Other items under the hammer at London’s Christie’s auction house included John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for his song ‘Give Peace a Chance’, which sold for $842,500.
A champagne bottle with the Beatles’ signatures on it fetched $15,000. The bottle was used as a prop in a 1967 promotional film for Beatles songs ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Strawberry Fields’.
Other rock artefacts at the auction included one of The Who rocker Pete Townshend’s guitars which survived his frequent onstage equipment smashing sprees.
The cherry-red Gibson SG special guitar fetched $64,900, while an acoustic guitar which Pete used to write hit ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ sold for $27,500.
A pair of Jimi Hendrix’s flares fetched $40,000 and one of his Marshall amps dating back to 1966 fetched $50,000.
Leon Hendrix, Jimi’s younger brother, has issued a statement claiming that the recently revealed sex tape of the guitar hero was a fake.
“The person in that film is not Jimi from what I have heard,” said Leon. “Yes, he had many female fans during that time and some may have been filmed. But this one is not Jimi Hendrix.”
Experience Hendrix, who control rights to Jimi Hendrix’s music and likeness, also questioned the tape’s authenticity, “We view the release as nothing more than a callous attempt to trade on the image and reputation of a deceased artist who is unable to defend himself against such an outrageous and baseless assertion.”
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