Jimi Hendrix, born in Seattle in 1942, began playing guitar at 15 and worked on the chitlin circuit before moving to England in 1966. There he formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience and quickly scored UK hits with Hey Joe and Purple Haze. His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 made him famous in America. He embraced overdriven amplifiers and feedback, which had been considered unwanted noise, and used fuzz, wah-wah and phasing effects in mainstream rock. He headlined Woodstock in 1969 and died in London in September 1970, aged 27.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.