James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors.

Due to his energetic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, erratic and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history.

Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their number-one hit single in the United States, "Light My Fire", taken from their self-titled debut album.

[20] In 1947, when he was three to four years old, Morrison allegedly witnessed a car crash in the desert, during which a truck overturned and some Native Americans were lying injured on the side of the road.

[25] The book The Doors, written by the surviving members of the band, explains how Morrison's account of the incident differed from that of his father, who is quoted as saying, "We went by several Indians.

He was also influenced by William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Baudelaire, Vladimir Nabokov, Molière, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Honoré de Balzac, Jean Cocteau, and most French existentialist philosophers.

[37] Refusing to attend the graduation ceremony, he went to Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and the university later mailed his diploma to his mother in Coronado, California.

[49][50] Conversely, Krieger and Manzarek claim that Morrison was inspired to wear leather pants by Marlon Brando from his role in The Fugitive Kind.

[52] Van's influence on Jim's developing stage performance was later noted by Brian Hinton in his book Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison: "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks.

The film featured the four group members playing the song on a darkened set with alternating views and close-ups of the performers while Morrison lip-synched the lyrics.

[63] The single "Light My Fire" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July/August 1967, a far cry from the Doors opening for Simon and Garfunkel or playing at a high school as they did in Connecticut that same year.

[64] Later on, the Doors appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular Sunday night variety series that had given the Beatles and Elvis Presley national exposure.

On the evening of December 9, 1967, during a concert in New Haven, Connecticut, Morrison was arrested on stage in an incident that further added to his mystique and emphasized his rebellious image.

[74] By early 1969, the formerly svelte Morrison had gained weight, grown a beard, and begun dressing more casually, abandoning the leather pants and concho belts for slacks, jeans, and T-shirts.

[75] During a concert on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, a visibly intoxicated Morrison attempted to spark a riot in the audience, in part by screaming, "You wanna see my cock?"

[92][93] In March 1971, Morrison took a leave of absence from The Doors[94][95] and joined girlfriend Pamela Courson in Paris at an apartment she had rented at 17–19, Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement.

[9] According to music journalist Ben Fong-Torres, it was suggested that his death was kept a secret, and the reporters who had telephoned Paris were told that Morrison was not deceased but tired and resting at a hospital.

[121] Upon hearing the record, Morrison's father wrote him a letter telling him "to give up any idea of singing or any connection with a music group because of what I consider to be a complete lack of talent in this direction.

"[122] In a letter to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission District Office dated October 2, 1970, Admiral Morrison acknowledged the breakdown in family communications as the result of an argument over his assessment of his son's musical talents.

[129][140] Throughout his career, Morrison had regular sexual and romantic encounters with fans (including groupies) such as Pamela Des Barres[141][142] or Poppy Martins (according to Zouzou), as well as ongoing affairs with other musicians, writers, and photographers involved in the music business.

They included Nico; singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane;[143] and editor Gloria Stavers of 16 Magazine, as well as an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin.

[145][146][147] She reportedly hit him over the head with a bottle of whiskey during a fight in front of witnesses, and thereafter referred to Morrison as "that asshole" whenever his name was brought up in conversation.

[167][168] Other works relating to religion, mysticism, ancient myth and symbolism were of lasting interest to Morrison, particularly Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

[173] Morrison's vocal influences included Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, which can be heard in his baritone crooning style on several of the Doors' songs.

[174] Botnick has recalled that when he first met the Doors in Sunset Sound Studios he showed them the condenser microphone, which Morrison would then use when recording his vocals for their debut album.

"[178] Wallace Fowlie, professor emeritus of French literature at Duke University, wrote Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, subtitled "The Rebel as Poet – A Memoir".

"Weeping, he left his pad on orders from police and furnishings hauled away, all records and mementos, and reporters calculating tears & curses for the press: 'I hope the Chinese junkies get you' and they will for the [opium] poppy rules the world".

The bronze plaque thereon bears the Greek inscription: ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ, usually translated as "true to his own spirit" or "according to his own daemon".

Music journalist Simon Reynolds noted that the "deep, heavy alloys" in Morrison's voice, served as a prototype for the gothic rock scene.