The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception,[2] which itself was a reference to a William Blake quote: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite."[3]
They were among the most controversial, influential and unique rock
acts of the 1960s and beyond, mostly because of Morrison's wild, poetic[4] lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death on 3 July 1971, aged 27, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973.[5]
Signing with Elektra Records
in 1966, the Doors released eight albums between 1967 and 1971. All but
one hit the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and went platinum or better.
The 1967 release of The Doors was the first in a series of top ten albums in the United States, followed by Strange Days (1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), Absolutely Live (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971), with 21 Gold, 14 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.[6] The band's biggest hits are "Light My Fire" (US, number 1), "People Are Strange" (US, number 12), "Love Me Two Times" (US, number 25), "Hello, I Love You" (US, number 1), "The Unknown Soldier", (US, number 39), "Touch Me" (US, number 3), "Love Her Madly" (US, number 11), and "Riders On The Storm" (US, number 14). After Morrison's death in 1971, the surviving trio released two albums Other Voices and Full Circle with Manzarek and Krieger sharing lead vocals. The three members also collaborated on the spoken-word recording of Morrison's An American Prayer
in 1978 and on the "Orange County Suite" for a 1997 boxed set.
Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited in 2000 for an episode of VH1's
"Storytellers" and subsequently recorded Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors with a variety of vocalists.
Although the Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold 36.6 million certified units in the US[7] and over 100 million records worldwide,[8] making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.[9] The Doors has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 41st on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[10] The Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold and platinum LPs.[11]
In 2002 Manzarek and Krieger started playing together again, branding themselves as the Doors of the 21st Century, with Ian Astbury of the The Cult
on vocals. Densmore opted to sit out and, along with the Morrison
estate, sued the duo over proper use of the band name and won. After a
short time as Riders On the Storm, they settled on the name
Manzarek-Krieger and continued to tour until Manzarek's death in 2013,
at the age of 74.
Three of the band's studio albums, The Doors (1967), L.A. Woman (1971), and Strange Days (1967), were featured in the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at positions 42, 362 and 407 respectively.
The band, their work, and Morrison's celebrity are considered important to the counterculture of the 1960s.[12][13][14][15][16]
The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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