Jimi Hendrix in drug death riddle

By David Tune

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POP STAR Jimi Hendrix died in an ambulance yesterday on the way to hospital.

He was apparently suffering from a drug overdose.

Hendrix, one of the stars of the recent Isle of Wight pop festival, whose blatant sexuality on stage made him the centre of countless controversies, had been found by his beautiful West German girlfriend in a coma in bed at her hotel.

Twenty-three-year-old Monica Danneman called an ambulance and sat weeping beside him as he was driven to hospital.

Westminster Coroner's Office said later : "We suspect a drug overdose." An Inquest will probably be held on Wednesday.

Singer Eric Burdon, a close friend of Hendrix, who was with Miss Danneman, said: "Jimi spent the night at his girl friend's hotel. I don't know exactly what happened. His girl friend is too upset to talk. All I know is that he had taken sleeping tablets.

Police toolk some blankets from Miss Danneman's 5gn.-a-week basement flat at the Samarkand Hotel in Bayswater for forensic tests.

Hendrix had booked into the Cumberland Holel, Marble Arch. on September 6.

He reserved a £ 17-a-day fifth floor suite but rarely used it. He was last seen in the hotel on Thursday afternoon cleaning his shoes in his suite.

The wild-haired American, who first became famous in Britain, was a legend in the pop world for his talent with the guitar - when he wasn't smashing it on the stage or setting fire to it. He could earn up to £ 5,000 for a single performance.

Wild