Jimi Hendrix arrived in England in November 1966 with his new manager Chas Chandler and held auditions for a backing band. Noel Redding was chosen to play bass, although he had never played bass before auditioning (he was a guitarist). Mitch Mitchell was a seasoned London drummer with some jazz influences.

Following the lead of Cream, the Experience were one of the first groups to popularise the 'power trio' format. This smaller format also encourages more extrovert playing from the players involved, often at very high volumes.

In the case of the Experience, Hendrix mixed lead and rhythm guitar duties into one, while also making use of then-revolutionary guitar effects such as feedback and wah-wah. Mitchell played hard-hitting jazz-influenced grooves that often served a melodic role as much as they did time-keeping. Redding was often seen as the eye of the storm, playing deceptively simple bass lines that helped to anchor the band's sound.

Visually, they decked themselves out in psychedelic costumes and permed afros. The Experience were also one of the first integrated bands. Given the racial turmoil of the times, the sheer idea of having a black frontman with two white men was quite a strong political statement.

The lineup first came to prominence during the Monterey Pop Festival. The band delivered a stellar performance that ended with Hendrix famously setting his guitar on fire. This made the cover of Rolling Stone and the appearance was also included in the Monterey Pop documentary film, which brought them to the attention of North American audiences.

They were then asked to go on tour with the Monkees as the opening act, but abruptly left the tour after only a few dates. Chas Chandler later said that it was a publicity stunt.

Hendrix recorded his three most successful albums with the band: Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland.

In June 1969, Hendrix decided to break up the group. Deteriorating relations with Redding had come to a head, and he also felt stunted by the trio format. The Experience was disbanded in August 1969 following Hendrix's statement while on stage at the Denver Pop Festival that this was the last gig that they would be playing together.