Jimi Hendrix Tried to Recruit Paul McCartney via 1969 Telegram for Supergroup

Collider reported on Jan. 30, 2026 that on Oct. 22, 1969 Jimi Hendrix sent a telegram inviting Paul McCartney to join a planned supergroup with Miles Davis and drummer Tony Williams.

At the time Hendrix was working on an album and had been collaborating with Miles Davis in New York; he envisioned McCartney on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Davis contributing his jazz expertise.

The telegram read, “We are recording and (sic) LP together this weekend. How about coming in to play bass stop? Call Alan Douglas [at] 212-5812212. Peace, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Tony Williams.” Both artists admired each other: McCartney has called Hendrix the greatest guitarist and said, “I certainly loved Jimi. I was one of the first people to see him in London, and it was mind-blowing.”

The proposed sessions fell apart largely because of timing. McCartney was away on a two-week holiday and the telegram was received by the Beatles’ aide Peter Brown; McCartney later told Howard Stern in 2018, “I’ve never received one. There are lots of what ifs.” It is unknown whether Hendrix tried to reach out again.

The sessions never materialized and any chance of the collaboration ended when Hendrix died in 1970 at age 27. McCartney called it a missed opportunity and Hendrix’s death a “shame,” leaving the proposed supergroup as one of music’s unresolved what‑ifs.

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