On this day in 1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in the UK

Brought over by Animals great and new manager Chas Chandler, the group arrived in London in the early hours of the morning, his bags containing a change of clothes, pink plastic curlers, soap, acne cream, a toothbrush and his Fender Stratocaster. The guitar was carried through the airport by a road manager from the Animals named Terry McVay as they didn’t want anyone to know that Jimi was in the UK to work.

One of Hendrix’s first stops once arriving in London was to change his legal name from James to Jimi, before traveling to various jam sessions to find new musicians for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He went on to play at a nightclub that evening to an amazed audience. Hendrix also met his girlfriend of the next three years at that event.

The UK trip lasted for 9 months and catapulted the group’s careers into superstardom, before returning home to perform at the Monterey International Pop Festival.