The Iconic Rock Star Whose Last Meal Was A Tuna Fish Sandwich

One question journalists are fond of asking celebrities is what they'd choose for their last meal. It may seem silly, but year after year, decade after decade, the question keeps resurfacing in interviews. Still, many are more than happy to expound their chosen menu, often presenting over-the-top requests (just look at Gordon Ramsay's legendary final meal). If your exit is unexpected, however, your last meal may not be anything special at all. You may know that Elvis Presley died after binging on desserts (although not as a direct result), while Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed with sandwiches in hand. Jimi Hendrix, too, passed on after eating a sandwich — a tuna one, in his case.

The tuna sandwich isn't what killed Hendrix, since he overdosed on alcohol and barbiturates. These may have actually been the last things he consumed on September 17, 1970, but the sandwich was his final meal, prepared for him by his girlfriend, a German figure skater named Monika Dannemann. The couple had been seeing each other on and off over the past year, but had only lived together in London for four days before Hendrix's untimely death.

Jimi Hendrix was 27 years old at the time of his death, thus earning him a spot in the infamous 27 Club composed of prematurely deceased rock stars. In Hendrix's case, his death doesn't seem to have been something he anticipated, and it was unlikely that his ideal final meal would be a tuna sandwich while enjoying glasses of red wine. If given his druthers, he might have preferred living to a grand old age — he'd be in his 80s now — and enjoying plenty more of his favorite foods.

We don't know if Hendrix had any one meal he preferred above all others. He was known to have enjoyed spaghetti and soul food-style greens, and his favorite desserts included strawberry shortcake and banana cream pie. One Redditor also shared an anecdote about Hendrix regularly ordering a plate of ground beef, vegetables, and rice from an unnamed New York restaurant, possibly in 1969 when he lived in an apartment on West 12^th Street. Hamburger rice, as his go-to dish was known, wasn't on the menu but was something the restaurant would make specially for its celebrity customer.