Fact Check

Did a Tattooed Jimi Hendrix Ride a Dune Buggy?

A doctored image featuring Jimi Hendrix covered in tattoos was circulated on social media in October 2017.

Published Oct. 24, 2017

Claim:
An image shows Jimi Hendrix covered in tattoos while riding a dune buggy.

An image purportedly showing Jimi Hendrix covered in tattoos while riding in a dune buggy with an unidentified woman was recirculated on social media after it was posted to the Twitter account "Old Pics Archive" on 24 October 2017:


The tattoos featured in this photograph are fake, which doesn't make the rock star any less of a bad-ass.

The original photograph was taken on 6 October 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii and showed Hendrix, sans tattoos, riding in a dune buggy. Here's a comparison of the doctored image (left) and the original photograph (right):

In addition to the source photograph, the "tattoo" picture can also be debunked by the simple fact that Hendrix did not have any obvious tattoos, as evidenced by a series of images taken by photographer Donald Silverstein that featured the guitarist without a shirt on:

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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