By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-17 00:35:48 | Updated at 2026-08-19 20:46:43
2 days ago
No one was closer to Jimi Hendrix's supernatural talent – or his demons – than his trusted road manager and confidante, Eric Barrett.
He was there when the rocker famously set Woodstock ablaze, and repaired and replaced the many amps and guitars after Hendrix had smashed them on stage.
But behind the rock star posturing, Barrett reveals his friend to have been a sensitive, generous, insecure genius.
He has now broken 55 years of silence in his new book, Experienced, revealing not just the truth about Hendrix, but also lifting the curtain on the behind-the-scenes antics and diva demands of David Bowie, Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, George Michael, Billy Idol and many of the other stars he worked with.
Unfortunately, not all of them were as surprisingly wholesome as Hendrix.
Barrett worked closely with Hendrix, and was present for his most iconic moments
Madonna
My first impression of Madonna was that, despite what the critics were writing about her voice, she was going to be a huge star.
As she screamed at everyone in earshot and berated her dancers, the backing band and the crew over and over, my second impression was that she seemed like she might be a nightmare to work with.
As the rehearsal stretched beyond three hours, though, and her energy and determination to get it right didn't flag, I realized what a hard worker she was.
It turned out she'd been rehearsing like that for the last three months. Now, I understood why she was getting so frustrated. The show should've been much tighter, much further along than it was. Clearly the band and the crew were taking advantage of her as a new face in the industry. They were dragging their heels and cashing their checks. I knew it and she knew it, too.
His first impression of Madonna was that she was going to be a huge star
He also feared she would be a 'nightmare' to work with
Her manager, Freddy DeMann, took me to her dressing room to meet her. He went in first while I hovered outside. I overheard Madonna say: 'For f***'s sake, Freddy, do I have to meet him?'
My second impression was right, I thought – she was going to be a nightmare to work with.
When Freddy ushered me in, I could see Madonna was frazzled. I let her vent her frustration at how badly the tour preparations were going. When she was done, I calmly assured her: 'I can help you.'
We were cutting things close, but by the time we arrived in Seattle for the first show of the Virgin tour, I felt confident everyone was ready.
But the closer it got to showtime, the more nervous she got. While Jimi Hendrix would shoot me dirty looks when he was unhappy, Madonna had a much easier-to-decipher means of communication
'Eric!' I heard her yell from the stage. 'Eric! ERIC!'
Barrett fighting to keep the amps on stage upright and Hendrix smashed them down
With Lenny Kravitz, waiting for an elevator in a Tokyo hotel
With David Bowie, deep in conversation during rehearsals
'What's the problem, Madonna?'
'The ramp at the front of the stage wobbles when I walk on it.'
'Okay, I'll get it fixed.'
A short time later, I heard my name being called again. This time accompanied by a stomping of feet.
'Eric! ERIC!' Stomp, stomp. 'What's wrong with the sound?'
'I'll take care of it, Madonna.'
'Eric! ERIC!' Stomp, stomp. 'Why is that man smoking near me?'
'He's a hundred yards away, Madonna. But I'll talk to him.'
By the time the Beastie Boys had finished their supporting set, I was beginning to hate the sound of my own name. But then Madonna went on stage and all her doubts and anxieties seemed to melt away.
From my vantage point at the side of the stage, I thought she killed it. For her first live gig ever, she was great and I felt very proud of her.
After the show, I returned to my hotel room to take a shower. When I stepped out I heard someone knocking at the door. I braced myself for more demands from Madonna, but instead it was room service leaving me a bottle of champagne, a bunch of flowers and a card.
I opened the card and chuckled. It read: 'Thank f*** someone around here knows what they're doing. Madonna.'
Luther Vandross
When I first met Luther, he was a backup singer to David Bowie on the second half of the Diamond Dogs tour.
He was the sweetest, most polite kid. Like Bowie, he had a crippling fear of flying and I always felt so bad for him when we had to fly between venues.
Like David Bowie, Luther Vandross had a crippling fear of flying
By the time he was a big star, Vandross had become a 'completely different person' says Barrett
At an airport before one flight, he came up to me, nervous sweat dripping off him and said: 'Excuse me, Mr Barrett, would you mind if I take a Greyhound instead of flying?'
I knew the bus would take him about 16 hours, but we had a day off before the next show.
'No problem, Luther. Get a cab to the bus terminal. And travel safe. I'll see you sometime tomorrow.'
He was so grateful that this huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. I told him I'd try to arrange it so he traveled by road whenever possible.
The next time I worked with Luther was in 1997 when I was hired to be his tour manager. By then he was a big star and a completely different person. The charming, polite kid I'd known in 1974 had been replaced by a spoiled prima donna.
When I first went to get reacquainted with him, I waited in the tour management office until Luther's security guy told me Luther would receive me. He actually used those words: 'Luther will receive you now.'
When I later watched him doing his sound check, he berated the wardrobe stylist because one of the backing singers had a wrinkle in her dress. He tore into this poor woman; it was completely over the top.
A couple of days into the tour, it was the tour bus driver who felt his wrath. Luther accused him of not changing the sheets on his bed.
'Eric, when I get off the stage after my sound check this f***ing driver had better be a hundred miles down the road,' he told me. 'Fire him. I never want to see his lying face again.'
The driver even showed me the receipts that proved he'd had the sheets laundered, but I had no choice but to replace him.
I don't think there were many people on that tour who didn't get abused by Luther at some point. The production manager got such a public dressing down that he came to me the next day and quit.
Some of Luther's moodiness may have been triggered by the crash diets he frequently went on. But it was his fame that enabled him to get away with that kind of behavior.
It made for a horrible work environment, and I turned down the offer to work with him again
George Michael
As a performer, George Michael was great. As a person, I found him to be aloof and detached.
While he admired his prodigious talent, Barrett found George Michael to be aloof
The star insisted on having his king-size bed transported from city to city rather than sleep in a hotel room bed
Over the course of rehearsals and three months on the road, he rarely spoke a word to me directly. He was cocooned by an array of assistants and kept everyone else at arm's length. Even the simplest message had to be relayed to him via his assistants and then back again.
The only redeeming memory I had of that George Michael tour was witnessing the rock star treatment that he demanded. It was on another level.
While the band and crew frequently complained to me about the awful hotels they were forced to stay in, George's accommodation arrangements were quite different.
George didn't like sleeping in hotel room beds. He wanted to sleep in his own bed every night, so after each show he flew back home to England in his private jet. The following day, he then flew out to the next European city on the schedule.
However, there was always the fear that bad weather might ground his plane, so he also had a suite booked at the best hotel in town. But, of course, he refused to sleep in a hotel room bed, so his managers finally united to hire a 'bed roadie.'
The bed roadie's sole job was to drive a truck containing George's king size bed from city to city on the off chance it may be needed.
It never was.
Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond by Eric Barrett with Lawrence Robinson is published by Diversion Books.
