Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison (1943-1971), Singer

Born James Douglas Morrison on December 8, 1943 he was the lead singer and lyricist of the popular American rock band The Doors. He was also a poet. Morrison dated Pamela Courson before his death, though they never married. He was handfasted in a pagan marriage rite to science fiction author Patricia Kennealy (who now calls herself Patricia Kennealy Morrison), but their marriage was never recognized by civil authorities.

Born in Melbourne, Florida, Jim Morrison was son to a strict military officer (an admiral in the US Navy). (Morrison's relationship wis his father was strained at best; his Oedipal passage in The Doors' "The End" reportedly enraged his father, ending all communication between them.)

Morrison became a seeker, interested in exploring new avenues and new sensations, and led a bohemian lifestyle in California, attending UCLA, drifting about and sleeping on couches and rooftops, reading books voraciously before dropping out of college in favor of his band The Doors. (The name The Doors came from an Aldous Huxley book, The Doors of Perception, in turn borrowed from a line of poetry by William Blake). He developed a unique singing voice and a style of poetry leaning heavily on mysticism and bits of literary classics.

Morrison took for himself the nickname "Mr. Mojo Risin'", an anagram of "Jim Morrison", and which he eventually used as a refrain in his final single, LA Woman. He was also called The Lizard King from a line in his famed epic poem Celebration of the Lizard, part of which appeared on the album Waiting for the Sun and which was adapted into a musical in the 1990s.

While in The Doors Morrison began consuming a variety of drugs, drank constantly, and indulged in various vices, often even showing up for recording sessions while inebriated (he can be heard hiccuping on the song Five To One. His so-called shamanistic live performances have influenced others, including Patti Smith, as has his hedonistic lifestyle.

However, Jim Morrison grew increasingly disenchanted with his role as rock star. After basically being blacklisted in America as a result of pending lawsuits and his infamous indeceny arrest in Florida, he moved to Paris, France in March 1971 with the intention of concentrating on writing.

Jim Morrison died on July 3, 1971), in Paris, France in his bathtub at the age of 27; many fans and biographers have speculated that the cause of death was a drug overdose though the official report listed "heart attack" as the cause of death.

Morrison is buried in the famous Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in eastern Paris. Many of his fans visiting the grave leave litter and graffiti behind them, and as such the gravesite has to be frequently cleaned by city workers.

Many fans believe that Morrison faked his death in order to escape the spotlight. Conspiracy theorists point out that Morrison's girlfriend, Patricia Courson, initially told the press that Morrison was merely "very tired and resting in a hospital", that very few people had actually seen the corpse prior to its burial, and that Morrison, prior to his death, had often talked jokingly with his bandmates about "splitting to Africa". Doors drummer John Densmore, upon visiting Morrison's grave for the first time, is said to have remarked that it was too short. In the years following his death, fans allegedly spotted Morrison living in Louisiana, hanging around a New York radio station, and even at a gay nightclub in San Francisco.

Morrison is the subject of a number of biographies, and in 1992 actor Val Kilmer portrayed him in the big-screen biopic The Doors.