Raffaelli graduated from the
Art Center College of Design in
Southern California in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in Advertising Photography. At age 22, he was summoned to a
Beverly Hills estate by
Jimi Hendrix: "An art director had told me that this British rock star was getting ready to go on tour in the United States, and he needed a photographer. So I went up to this Beverly Hills house to show my portfolio, and when I got there, there were about thirty or forty photographers with their portfolios. When my turn came, I went into this bedroom and there was a Tiffany lamp with red scarves hanging from it, and at the foot of the bed, there was this handsome black man with a blond on either side of him, and one behind him on the bed. I recognized who it was, it was Jimi Hendrix. And he went through all thirty of my photos in about thirty seconds. He hands them back to me and says thank you. I left, thinking ‘what a waste of time that was.’ A couple of weeks later, I got the call that Jimi chose me, and the next morning I was on a plane to Hawaii to join him." In the mid 1970s, Raffaelli went on to pursue other venues in fine art photography, films and print. In 2011, Raffaelli released his first museum-quality Fine Art Prints from his vast collection, which he kept in storage for 40 years. Andrew Kirby, Executive Producer of The RARE Collections commented, "This is an important event in Rock Music History. There has never been an opportunity for collectors to view and purchase these unseen archives, much less meet Ron in person and hear the fascinating stories behind each incredible image." In October 2011, the Arlington Convention Center in
Arlington, Texas held an exhibit of Raffaelli's work. Ron died on November 7, 2016. ==Legal activity==