Music legend Jimi Hendrix honored with renamed Seattle post office
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jimi Hendrix is set to be honored with a renamed Seattle-area post office that is located less than a mile from his resting place at Greenwood Memorial Park cemetery.
As reported by the Seattle Times, legislators in Washington state have voted unanimously to rename the Renton Highlands Post Office to the James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix Post Office.
“I am honored to join in paying tribute to rock and roll icon and Seattle native Jimi Hendrix with the renaming of the Renton Highlands Post Office as the James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix Post Office Building,” Rep. Adam Smith, who sponsored the bill to rename the post office, said in a statement. “This designation will further celebrate Hendrix’s deep connection to the Puget Sound region and help ensure that his creative legacy will be remembered by our community and inspire future generations.”
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Hendrix was born and grew up in Seattle and attended Garfield High School. After decades of delay, the 2.5-acre Jimi Hendrix Park finally opened in the city’s Central District in June 2017– near the guitarist’s childhood home.
“Seattle will always be Jimi’s home,” Janie Hendrix, the music icon’s sister and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix, said at the time. “This very area is where Jimi grew up, where his dreams were cultivated and his creative energy awakened, in many ways. So to see this amazing place of beauty, dedicated to Jimi and his artistry, blossom into reality is indescribably fulfilling.”
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Both of Washington’s U.S. senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, supported Smith’s name-changing bill, which was signed into law last week. Complex notes that the renaming of the post office was also backed by the Northwest African American Museum’s director LaNesha DeBardelaben.
“His legendary artistic genius chartered new territory within world music,” DeBardelaben said in a statement. “While his reach was international in scope, his roots trace back to Seattle and we are proud to richly celebrate his legacy as part of his hometown community.”
Earlier this year, the singer’s Electric Ladyland was reissued as a box set to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
