Jim Morrison: American singer and poet; lead vocalist of The Doors (1943–1971)

He was the lead singer of rock band The Doors.

Morrison was of English, Scottish and Irish descent. His father was an officer for the United States Navy. This meant that he moved around very often. Morrison did not have many friends and read many books. When he went to high school in 1962, his teacher was amazed by his culture. In 1964 he went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

One day in Venice Beach, Morrison saw Ray Manzarek. Manzarek had also gone to UCLA. Morrison sang some verses of Moonlight Drive. Manzarek liked the intensity of the words to the song and asked Morrison to form a rock band with him. Morrison agreed and came up with the name "The Doors". The name was a reference of the Aldous Huxley book The Doors of Perception whose name came from a verse of the famous poet William Blake; "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."). The Doors was formed by Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger. In the beginning, Morrison would sing without looking the audience. After a while, he learned the play with them instead. He would jump and fall at stage with screams and jokes, inspired by rock idol Nick Serven.

Morrison became very famous all over the world as a poet, singer and sex symbol. Morrison had a problem with alcohol. He drank a lot and later albums were not as good as the first one. He wrote more poems and thought about stopping his career with The Doors. He took some drugs (mainly LSD) and become an addict. In 1969, in Miami, it was said that he was drunk and "exposed" himself.

Morrison was inducted, as a member of The Doors, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

The last album, L.A. Woman was released in 1971. It is thought to be one of the band's best albums. That year Morrison decided to take a break and go to Paris. On July 3, he was found dead in his bathroom. The cause of his death is still not clear. Some believe that his heart failed or it was an overdose. Other people think it could have been a murder. His grave is at the Père-Lachaise, at the same place as Oscar Wilde, Molière and many other great poets and authors.

• List of poets from the United States

 

Wiki Commons has media related to Jim Morrison.

• The Doors Official Webpage
• MusicChain - Jim Morrison Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Earliest film of Jim Morrison
• Morrison interviewed at the Miami trial (video) Archived February 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine