Ronnie Scott's Basement Flat — Jimi Hendrix Last Performance, London

On September 16, 1970 — two days before his death — Jimi Hendrix made his final public appearance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club at 47 Frith Street in Soho, joining Eric Burdon and War on stage for an impromptu jam session. Accounts of the performance vary: some describe Hendrix as playing brilliantly, others suggest he was clearly unwell and left the stage after a short time. Either way, it was the last time he would perform in public. He died in the early hours of September 18 at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill.

Ronnie Scott's had opened in 1959 in a basement on Gerrard Street before moving to its current Frith Street location in 1965. By 1970 it was London's premier jazz venue, hosting artists from Miles Davis to Ella Fitzgerald, and its intimate basement setting attracted musicians from all genres who would drop in to sit in or watch. Hendrix was a regular visitor during his years in London and had performed there before. The club's atmosphere — dark, smoky, with an audience of fellow musicians — was exactly the kind of setting he sought out.

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club continues to operate at 47 Frith Street in Soho and remains one of the world's great jazz venues. The room holds around 250 people and still presents live music seven nights a week. The connection to Hendrix's final performance gives it an additional layer of rock history significance, though the club is rightly celebrated primarily for its six-decade contribution to jazz in London.