jimi hendrix was born in seattle on november 27, 1942. he was called johnny allen hendrix when he was born. later, his dad named him james marshall hendrix when he returned from the military. he grew up without much money or attention; his parents divorced when he was nine years old, and his mother died when he was 16. at about the age of 14, hendrix found his first guitar. it was a broken broomstick with one string that had been thrown away by another boy. he still managed to play several tunes on it. soon after, at around 15, he managed to buy a proper acoustic guitar for $5 from a friend of his father. his first electric guitar was a white supro ozark that his father, al hendrix, had bought him. he did not have lessons and learned basic tunes and improvisation from watching chuck berry and elvis presley play live. he played without an amplifier.