Biographic - Sunday July 5, 2015 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

It's 50 years this month since the formation of Rock Legends The Doors... and 44 years this month since the Death of Frotman Jim Morrison. Today, the music of The Doors is as much in demand as ever. In 2003, the surviving members of The Doors declined a $15 million offer to lease the track "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" for a car commercial. Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida on December 8, 1943. The son of a future U.S. Navy admiral. He graduated from UCLA film school and teamed up with fellow student Ray Manzarek to for, The Doors. They recruited drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger and quickly became one of the hottest bands in Los Angeles. They topped the U.S. charts in 1967 with the million-selling single "Light My Fire" a feat they repeated with the 1968 smash "Hello, I Love You." yet even as the band scaled the heights of rock superstardom. Jim's life was sliding into chaos. His wild behavior, both on and offstage, led to a number of brushes with the law in 1970, he was sentenced to six months in prison. Remaining free on appeal, a bloated, bearded Jim relocated to France. On July 3, 1971, he was found Dead in the Bathtub of his Paris Apartment. His family having disowned him, he was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where his grave soon became a graffiti-covered shrine. Although the group soon disbanded, the legend lives on. 1991, Oliver Stone biopic, "The Doors" with Val Kilmer (pictured below) playing Jim, spawned a top-10 album. In 1993, the band was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. In 2007, The Doors received a lifetime achievement award at The Grammys. In recent years, Manzarek and Krieger collaborated with the likes of Drummer Stewart Copeland and the Cult's Ian Astbury to tour and perform the band's classic songs. Ray Manzarek died in 2013.

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