Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has returned to Jimi Hendrix's former flat in Mayfair, London, for a new exhibition of his paintings of the late musician. The show, titled Ronnie Wood: The Jimi Hendrix Portraits, is being held at number 23 Brook Street, where Hendrix lived with former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham from the summer of 1968.
Wood, who was a regular visitor to the third-floor flat, gave a personal tour of his works, which now hang in what was once Hendrix's front room. One painting depicts Hendrix against a burnt-orange background, wearing a wide-brimmed black hat and flared trousers. "Jimi was hard to draw and had a difficult face to capture like Mick, but I think I captured him well here," Wood said.
Emotional return to Brook Street
Standing in the room, Wood paused and said: "It's so strange being back here. It's been such a long time." He later recalled: "I was just in his bedroom, and it just brought back so many memories. He used to conduct court from his bed, basically with the guitar, just sitting on top and just shooting the breeze."
The 79-year-old remembers the last time he saw Hendrix, on September 18, 1970. "I was at Ronnie Scott's at the night he died, and he was walking away with his arm round a girl. I said, 'Hey, Jimmy, say goodbye.' And he kept walking. I said, 'Jimmy, say goodbye.' So he turned around and he went, 'Bye.' And that was goodbye. Died that night." Hendrix died of a drug overdose at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill, aged 27.
Memories of a shy genius
Wood described the excitement that spread through London's clubs when Hendrix arrived in Britain, noting that "it was all word of mouth then, because there was no internet and no mobiles." He recalled Eric Clapton saying, "There's somebody you've got to see." Of first seeing Hendrix, Wood said: "It was like somebody swiveled the earth a little bit more on its axis."
Away from the stage, Wood said Hendrix was "very shy, very laid back, very soft spoken" and wracked with self-doubt about his singing voice. "He didn't like his singing voice....but I said 'you don't have to worry about your singing voice, Jimmy, when you play the guitar like that.'"
Wood first met Hendrix while playing bass for The Jeff Beck Group in America. Hendrix joined their jam sessions and would say, "Hey Jeff, let the bass player have a solo." The pair later shared PP Arnold's flat in Holland Park for a couple of weeks, along with Hendrix's basset hound called Loopy. "The dog would poop all over the house and Arnold threw us out," Wood said. "The basset hound had enormously long ears and was a lovely dog, and I ended up keeping him myself."
Exhibition details
Wood's paintings are being shown from Wednesday, September 30, 2026, until Sunday, April 11, 2027, at Handel Hendrix House, which also includes the neighbouring home of composer George Frideric Handel at number 25. Wood, who studied at Ealing Art College, said he "goes through phases" with art and music, and has more solo live dates coming as well as another large exhibition of his work in Germany. "I don't like waiting," he said. "That's why I get a band together and keep playing. I've got to keep my chops together."
