Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27th, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. He began playing guitar at the age of 15 and eventually enlisted in the US Army, later earning an honorable discharge and continuing on with his music career.

He is regarded by many as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and his solos are seen as some of the most eclectic and powerful in the industry. His music style has a distinct psychedelic nature to it and his musical inspirations came from the rock 'n' roll and electric blues genre. His signature style also makes heavy use of overdriven amplifiers and the use of amplifier feedback to accentuate his music, something which many musicians had seen as a nuisance and been unable to work into something positive in the past. As many of his contemporaries of the time and the musicians he would inspire, Hendrix's music heavily featured themes of love and peace that characterized the hippie generation and Woodstock era in general.

He is also know for his flamboyant and energetic performances, and often at their conclusion he would destroy or burn his guitars. When asked in an interview about this, he commented "...you sacrifice the things you love. I love my guitar." One of his most well-known performances was during the Woodstock Festival in 1969, during which he gave his now-famous rendition of Star-Spangled Banner complete with his own stylistic trappings.

Hendrix, as seen at his Woodstock performance in 1969

Hendrix died on September 17th, 1970 of complications related to barbiturate intoxication. Many tried to criticize Hendrix and the way he had lived his life, but his legacy has continued to live on and flourish to this day, and as he himself said, "I'm the one that has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life, the way I want to."

For more on Jimi Hendrix go to http://www.jimihendrix.com/us/home

Bob Marley

Bob Nesta Marley was born in Jamaica during 1945 to his African-Jamaican mother Cedella Booker and his British Naval-officer father Norval Marley. He spent a great deal of his childhood living in poverty in Trenchtown and his relationship with his father was estranged at best. Not only did he have a father who didn't entirely want him (although he helped the family when he could) but he was somewhat of an outcast as a child, being born of two entirely different cultures in a way that prevented him from being fully accepted into either. This changed when he met the likes of Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, venturing into the world of music and the reggae genre that was being conceived in the heart of Jamaica to soon explode throughout the rest of the world.

He has since become one of the singular defining figureheads for the genre, almost universally known and synonymous with the reggae movement. He was a practicing Rastafarian, and this and other reggae-popularized ideals are evident in his music, with their overt themes of love, tolerance, compassion, and peace, all accompanied with the distinctly relaxing and exotic musical sounds reggae is known for, steel drums and all. He used the position his popularity provided him to help bring those around him together, and instead of taking political sides in Jamaica sometimes served as a mediator between them, encouraging all parties to see his views of peace and cooperation despite their differences.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/16/bob-marley-peace-concert

Marley, seen uniting the hands of the two opposing political party leaders at the time during the One Love Peace Concert in which he had performed.

Marley passed away May 11th, 1981 from a form of malignant melanoma which had begun in his foot and since spread throughout his body, having had refused to have any sort of risk-reducing amputation take place due to religios reasons. Despite this, his legacy lives on today cementing him as not only one of the greatest influential musicians of all time, but philosophers as well.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is a hallmark band for the Southern Hard-Rock genre who saw its prominence during the 70's and is still highly-popular among many people today, epitomizing the ideas of the Southern Rebel and frequently working the rebel flag (also known as the Confederate flag) into their image, not as a symbol of racism or hatred, but for their Southern pride and ideals. Some of their most notable and my personal favorite songs include Free Bird, Simple Man, and Sweet Home Alabama.

Unfortunately, in 1977 Convair flight CV-300 crashed while carrying the band to an appearance at LSU. Among the casualties were lead-singer Ronnie Van Zant, lead-guitarist Steve Gaines, and many other members of their flight including both pilots. They are still remembered to this day by family, friends, and many fans who had never even met them.

In memory of those lost, to this day the surviving members refuse to replace Van Zant in concert on the vocals for their hit Free Bird, opting instead to perform it as an acoustic-only version.