Mick Jagger & Jimi Hendrix, Top of the Pops, London, 1967
About this photograph
Jimi Hendrix & Mick Jagger captured together on their first ever meeting at the Top of the Pops Studio in May 1967. The story goes that Hendrix was there to do a taping for the Top of the Pops and Jagger stopped by to "check out the competition."
"I got a late present the day after my eighteenth birthday, May 4, 1967, when I got to watch Hendrix perform on Top of the Pops. At the time I was going to the BBC’s studios at Lime Grove every Thursday for the taping of the weekly music TV show, which was hugely in influential at that time. All the record retailers throughout the country would place their orders on Friday morning depending on what was played on Top of the Pops the night before, and all the major bands would play the show when they released a record—Pink Floyd, the Stones, Hendrix, Marley. I was in awe of Hendrix, so when I saw he was scheduled to play I made sure I was there. He blew the doors off the place like he always did, but the cool moment came when I noticed Mick Jagger behind the stage, out of the lights, just standing there watching Jimi’s set. When the taping was finished, Hendrix went over to Jagger and I immediately followed. ‘Hey guys, do you mind if I get a picture?’ They said sure and I snapped a shot on my Rolleiflex, just one frame, no other photographers around. Jimi had only been in London for five or six months at that point—I’m pretty sure that was the day they met.” - Alec Byrne
Print size and edition
16” x 20” - Edition of 75
20” x 24” - Edition of 25
30” x 40” - Edition of 10
40” x 60” - Edition of 5
Print type
Archival pigment print
Paper type
Canson Infinity Fibre Rag paper
Signature
Hand signed in ink by photographer
About the photographer
Alec Byrne began covering the British music scene in 1966 at age 17 and went on to work for New Musical Express. He photographed legendary artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie. His archive, stored for close to four decades, was reintroduced in 2012 with a legendary one-night exhibition in Los Angeles. His work, now featured in major exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery in London, is highly sought after by collectors. Alec’s first book, LONDON ROCK: The Unseen Archive, was published in 2017.
© Alec Byrne. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.