The last surviving member of the the Jimi Hendrix Experience, drummer Mitch Mitchell, died aged 61 on 12 November, 2008 after a lifetime in music.

The British musician was touring in a tribute band on the Experience Hendrix Tour, which performed the week before he died in Portland, Oregon.

He played in the Hendrix band from 1966 until the guitarist’s death in 1970, and was thought to have died of natural causes.

According to fan forum drummerworld.com, he had "magnificent rhythmic drive" and ranks alongside legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker and The Who's Keith Moon .

His explosive drumming style can be heard in hard-charging songs such as Fire and Manic Depression.

Classic albums include Are You Experienced? and Electric Ladyland, featuring tracks like Purple Haze, Little Wing and Hey Joe.

Mitch Mitchell has been described as one of the three great British rock drummers of the 1960s.

He was born in Ealing, London in 1947 and became a child actor. He developed into a session drummer by his late teens, having taught himself the art.

Early bands in the 1960s included The Pretty Things, The Tornados and Riot Squad, his big break coming in 1965 after joining Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames.

When the band split up, Mitch was recruited to join guitarist Jimi Hendrix and bassist Noel Redding in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The group’s spellbinding performances included the Monterey Pop Festival, where Hendrix famously set light to his guitar, and Woodstock.

After Hendrix died in 1970, Mitch continued to play and record with some of rock and jazz world's biggest names.

When Noel Redding died at 57 in 2003, Mitchell was left as the only surviving member of the legendary trio.

The latest tour was designed to bring together veteran musicians who had known Hendrix and younger artists.