Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer dies

Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience has died aged 61.

He was found dead in his hotel room in Portland, Oregon in the early hours of yesterday morning. A medical examiner told the Associated Press he had died of natural causes, but an autopsy has yet to be conducted.

Mitchell, who was from Ealing, west London, had been in the city performing in a Jimi Hendrix tribute band, the Experience Hendrix Tour. Janie Hendrix, chief executive of the tour and step-sister of Jimi Hendrix, paid tribute to Mitchell.

She said: "He was a wonderful man, a brilliant musician and a true friend. His role in shaping the sound of the Jimi Hendrix Experience cannot be underestimated." Terry Stewart, chief executive of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, also paid tribute and said Mitchell had added a "strictly percussive element to a lead instrument".

He said: "His interplay with Jimi Hendrix's guitar on songs like Fire is truly amazing.

Mitch Mitchell had a massive influence on rock 'n' roll drumming and took it to new heights." Bob Merlis, a spokesman for the tour, called his death "devastating" and said when he saw him perform two weeks ago in Los Angeles, the drummer appeared healthy and upbeat.

Blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who is also part of the tour, said Mitchell was to drums what Hendrix was to guitar.

"Today many of us have lost a dear friend, and the world has lost a rock 'n' roll hero," he said. joined the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966 and backed the rocker for his legendary performance at Woodstock three years later.

He drummed on Hendrix classics such as "Fire," "Manic Depression" and "Third Stone from the Sun." In a recent interview with a US paper, Mitchell recalled the moment he joined Jimi Hendrix Experience: "I got a call from (Hendrix manager) Chas Chandler asking if I'd fancy playing with this guitarist he'd brought over from America.

"We met in this sleazy little club, and (Jimi) was this guy in a Burberry raincoat. We did some Chuck Berry and took it from there. I suppose it worked." Jimi Hendrix died in mysterious circumstances in London in 1970 at the age of 27, cutting short a ground-breaking rock career notable for his extraordinary guitar sound on albums "Are You Experienced" and "Electric Ladyland."

The third member of the group, English bass guitarist Noel Redding, died in 2003 aged 57.