Wild Thing

In March 1967 at Finsbury Astoria in London, Jimi Hendrix lit a fire on his way to rock stardom. He literally and figuratively set his 1965 Fender Stratocaster afire onstage but he got burned in the process for his concert- ending stunt earned him a trip to the hospital for minor burnt injuries in his hands.

A lot had been said about that legendary night and the fate of his “Strat” went unheard of for decades until the nephew of Tony Garland, who was once Mr. Hendrix’s aide found the burnt guitar in his grandparents’ garage in England in 2007.

Today, that iconic guitar sold for $495,000 at an auction by the rock memorabilia firm, Fame Bureau and was bought by Daniel Boucher an American collector who plans to convert the guitar for right- hand playing so that he can play it himself. In case you don’t know it yet, the guitar god was a lefty.

Here’s a video of his US debut as the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where his only other documented "guitar- burning” took place.