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MPR News Staff

Hendrix burned his hands when he lit his guitar on fire

Jimi Hendrix
Rock guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix caught mid-guitar break during his performance at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 1970.
Evening Standard | Getty Images 1970

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Today's Morning Edition music is from "Fire" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Fifty years ago during a performance in London, Hendrix played this song and then poured lighter fluid on his guitar and set it on fire. The flames leaped 4 feet in the air and burned his hands.

It was the first time that Hendrix tried the stunt, which he would repeat at the Monterey Pop Festival.

In 2008, the scorched Fender Stratocaster guitar that Hendrix burned that night sold for more than $450,000 at auction.