Noel Redding, the man who held down the bottom line for Jimi Hendrix, has died.
The bassist passed away Sunday at his home in County Cork, Ireland, according to his manager, Ian Grant. Grant made the announcement on a message board for Track Records, Redding's label.
"I can't yet take it in that, once more, I am sitting at my desk bringing sad news. Noel passed away," Grant wrote.
Authorities say Redding likely succumbed to natural causes; an autopsy will take place later this week. Redding was 57.
His death reportedly comes just a week after his mother's.
Originally a guitarist, Redding converted to bass when he joined with Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. Redding played bass on all three of the group's landmark albums, Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland. The power trio split in 1969, a year before Hendrix died.
Redding was enshrined with Hendrix and Mitchell in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Known for his only-in-the-'60s look (towering 'fro that rivaled Jimi's, granny glasses, dashiki), Redding was later embittered by his Experience days. He signed away his royalty rights in 1974, allegedly to pay an outstanding legal bill, for a one-off payment of $100,000. Redding claimed he agreed to the sum after being promised there would be no more reissues of the Experience material. Of course, that was before CDs and DVDs and the endless repackaging of the band's songs by Hendrix's estate.
"I should have been a plumber. That's a joke. But the thing is, plumbers get paid," he told Billboard.com last year. "But there again, I'm still playing, thank God. That's the main thing." Redding said he was even forced to sell the bass he used to record with the Experience to get by.
In February, Grant vowed to file a lawsuit on Redding's behalf demanding some $5 million from the Hendrix estate. It's not immediately clear whether that legal action will go forward.
Experience Hendrix, the company that controls the Hendrix empire, released a statement saying, "We at Experience Hendrix mourn the loss of Noel Redding. His contributions to the Jimi Hendrix Experience shall never be forgotten."
After his Experience experience, Redding played guitar with Fat Mattress and later with Road and the Noel Redding Band.
In 1996, he outlined his rock 'n' roll woes in his autobiography, Are You Experienced?. A compilation CD of two Noel Redding Band albums, Clonakilty Cowboys and Blowin', was reissued in 2000 on One Way Records. His most recent release, a concert set titled Live from Bunkr--Prague, was released by Grant's Track Records last year.
Redding is survived by his longtime companion, Deborah McNaughton. She released a brief statement calling Redding an "extremely gentle and gracious soul. He had a kind of chivalry and nobility about him and he was kind to everyone bar none, people and animals alike."