Jimi Hendrix's final words to roadie revealed after Hells Angels clash
Jimi Hendrix's final words to roadie Eric Barrett were "Are you OK, Eric? Are you OK?" — spoken after Barrett blocked a Hells Angel's baton strike during their violent escape from the Isle of Fehmarn festival in September 1970, just 12 days before Hendrix died at age 27.
In a new memoir, "Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond," Barrett recounts the harrowing final official concert of the rock legend's career. What was meant to be another tour stop became a chaotic scene of biker violence — and the last time Barrett would hear Hendrix's voice.
Key Takeaways
- Hendrix's last words to Barrett were repeated checks on his roadie's wellbeing after a Hells Angel attack at Isle of Fehmarn.
- The Sept. 6, 1970 "Love and Peace" festival show was Hendrix's final official concert performance.
- Barrett rejects decades of conspiracy theories, calling Hendrix's Sept. 18 death a tragic sleeping-pill accident.
- Barrett served as Hendrix's roadie and confidant from 1968 until the guitarist's death.
- The memoir adds fresh eyewitness detail to one of rock's most scrutinized final weeks.
What happened at Jimi Hendrix's final concert?
Barrett told Fox News Digital that hundreds of Hells Angels descended on the Baltic island of Fehmarn and took over the venue during the September 1970 festival. Fans camping at the site were "beaten and robbed" as security was chased off, he wrote in his book.
Hendrix took one look at the mayhem and retreated to his room "alone, sober," Barrett said. The next day, he faced a hostile crowd that booed him. Hendrix shot back: "I don't give a f— if you boo, as long as you boo in key, you mothers," before closing with "Thank you, goodbye. Peace!"
Two cars waited to ferry the band off the island and back to London. But the bikers did not want them to leave — they wanted the musicians to stay and party. Barrett said the situation then turned violent. For more on rock legends and breaking entertainment stories, see our Celebrity Breaking News coverage.
What were Jimi Hendrix's final words to Eric Barrett?
As Barrett ushered Hendrix and the band toward the waiting cars, bikers surrounded them. He saw a Hells Angel about to strike tour manager Gerry Stickells over the head with a baton. Barrett raised his arm to absorb the blow instead.
"I nearly passed out from the pain," Barrett recalled, "but imagine if it had landed on Gerry's skull?" The group managed to reach the car. Hendrix kept looking at Barrett because he had witnessed the attack.
"He just said to me, 'Are you OK, Eric? Are you OK?'" Barrett said. "He kept asking me if I was OK. That's just the kind of man he was. And… that was the last thing he ever said to me."
How did Jimi Hendrix die 12 days later?
On Sept. 18, 1970, paramedics found Hendrix unresponsive at Monika Dannemann's apartment at the Samarkand Hotel in London. He was 27. Tour manager Stickells broke the news to Barrett, who remembered walking around London "in a fog."
Barrett called it "a stupid, tragic accident." He said Dannemann told him Hendrix took nine of her powerful German tranquilizers and she could not wake him. According to Barrett's account, paramedics laid Hendrix on his back; he vomited and asphyxiated. A post-mortem concluded he died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates, as documented in official accounts of Hendrix's death.
Does Barrett believe Jimi Hendrix was murdered?
Barrett firmly rejected rumors and conspiracy theories that have surrounded Hendrix's death for decades. Former roadie James "Tappy" Wright alleged in his 2009 memoir that manager Mike Jeffery confessed to killing Hendrix — a claim The Guardian reported at the time.
"I don't believe for a second that Mike Jeffery was the cause of Jimi Hendrix's death," Barrett said. "The circumstances don't add up." Jeffery died in a 1973 plane crash near Nantes, France. Barrett added he is "probably the last man standing" from Hendrix's inner circle and carries "beautiful memories" of a shy, polite musician who once asked him on a plane, "Eric, what do you think, will they remember me?"