Jimi Hendrix had the Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius, Sagittarius rising and the Moon in Cancer, with Mercury and the Sun both opposite Uranus: the chart of someone who rewired what a guitar could do.

He was born Johnny Allen Hendrix at 10:15 in the morning on 27 November 1942 in Seattle, Washington. Astro-Databank rates the time AA, from the birth record. His father renamed him James Marshall Hendrix when he was three. He taught himself guitar, left-handed, on a right-handed instrument turned upside down and restrung.

Mercury and the Sun opposite Uranus

Uranus is the planet of electricity, invention and shock. In his chart it sits in Gemini, the sign of the hands and quick signals, in the 5th house of creativity and performance. It opposes both Mercury, the mind and the hands, within half a degree, and the Sun. Few aspects describe him so neatly. He treated feedback, distortion and volume as instruments in themselves, and his playing on Are You Experienced (1967) still sounds like nothing else.

Sagittarius rising, with the Sun in the 11th house

Sagittarius rising is restless, generous and drawn to distance. His Sun and Mercury, also in Sagittarius, sit in the 11th house of groups and audiences. His big break came abroad: in September 1966 he flew to London, formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience with two English musicians, and was a star in Britain months before America caught on. At a festival in Monterey, California, in June 1967 he set fire to his guitar on stage, and at Woodstock in 1969 he played "The Star-Spangled Banner" as a wall of sound.

Mars in Scorpio at the top of the chart

Mars sits in Scorpio in the 10th house, the house of career and reputation. Scorpio is intensity and Mars is force, and at the top of the chart they describe a public image built on raw power. His shows were famous for their physical drama: playing with his teeth, behind his back, on his knees.

Moon and Jupiter in Cancer in the 7th house

The Moon in Cancer needs home, family and belonging, and it sits with Jupiter in his 7th house of close partnership. Behind the wild stage image, people who knew him often described him as shy and gentle. In 1970 he opened Electric Lady Studios in New York, a creative home of his own, which is still in use. He died in London in September 1970, aged 27.

Compare your chart with his

If you share his Sagittarius Sun or his Cancer Moon, you may know the pull between going as far as you can and needing somewhere to come home to. Add your details below to see how your chart meets his.