7 Most Controversial Jim Morrison Moments

The Miami Incident

It’s said that Morrison had been drinking all day on that very famous day and by the time he had started performing was just overly fortified in alcohol. The Doors were performing at the Dinner Key Auditorium, there was no air conditioning and the crowd was going crazy. It was very hot inside and the seats had been removed by the ticket promoter to increase seat sales. It was a crowd of 12,000 – restless – in a place that normally held 7000. Jim’s drunkenness resulted in a weak performance which pushed the crowd’s anger over the top. One thing led to another, The Door’s Manager Bill Siddons recalled, "The gig was a bizarre, circus-like thing, there was this guy carrying a sheep and the wildest people that I'd ever seen". Equipment chief Vince Treanor said, "Somebody jumped up and poured champagne on Jim so he took his shirt off, he was soaking wet. 'Let's see a little skin, let's get naked,' he said, and the audience started taking their clothes off. One thing led to another."

On March 5th the Dade County Sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Jim’s arrest claiming that the rock star had exposed his penis on stage, shouted obscenities to the crowd, was drunk during the time of his performance and had simulated oral sex on Robbie Krieger. Morrison was later convicted, sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Morrison’s lawyer appealed the decision and the rock legend would remain free until another verdict was made. Morrison later died before the matter was legally resolved.

Nobody ever saw Jim Morrison’s penis and Robbie Krieger denied that Morrison ever simulated oral sex on him. On December 9th, 2010 Jim Morrison was granted a posthumous pardon for the Miami incident.

Jim Morrison's Death

Jim Morrison’s death shocked the world. He was another one, much too young to leave the world. Morrison had once also said that he too would be a member of the infamous “27 Club”, whose members at that time included Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones. Later Kurt Cobain would also join this club. At the time of his death, rumours circled that Morrison was not dead, that he had faked his own death to merely escape the world that he had grown tired of. His body was never seen, an autopsy was never performed, he was pronounced dead by a doctor in Paris who had written in the medical records that Morrison had died of heart failure, since there was no evidence of foul play. It was later revealed that Morrison had actually died of a heroin overdose – a rumoured suicide – as Morrison was never a heroin user. He was found on the toilet seat in the Rock’n Roll Circus, where he had snorted heroin. Morrison’s friends had brought him back to the apartment and had placed him in a cold bath. This was a trick that was used to attempt to revive overdose victims. He was found here by his girlfriend and heir to his estate, Pamela Courson who herself died a few years later at the age of 27. 

Jim Morrison's Grave Site

Since 1971, Morrison fans have flocked to his grave located in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, to do drugs, have sex and just honour the rock legend. The grave has been vandalized on several occasions. In 1981 a Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin created a bust of the legend which was placed on Morrison’s new headstone – it had been stolen prior – the bust was defaced through the years and eventually stolen as well in 1988. The current headstone was placed by Morrison’s father, Admiral George Stephen Morrison. The headstone reads a Greek quote that translates to “True to his own spirit”.

The French wanted Morrison’s grave removed from the famous graveyard. However, the request was rejected when discovered how popular the grave is as a tourist attraction. The grave is the second most visited attraction in Paris, the Eiffel tower is first.

To this day, the Doors continue to sell millions of records, Morrison’s and The Doors’ music will live on for years to come. His legend is his controversy and music, his humanity is the proof that he was not untouchable and all legends come to an end.  

credit ronbrinkmann