7. Jim Morrison was and is believed by some to have faked his own death
When Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Los Angeles based band The Doors, was found dead in Paris on July 3, 1971 (the second anniversary of the death of Brian Jones), rumors immediately began circulating that he had faked his demise. Morrison was buried in Paris at Pere Lachaise cemetery before an autopsy was performed on his body, making his cause of death, if in fact he died, a matter of speculation. Rumors that he had made arrangements to vanish from the world, which he conveyed to his fellow members of The Doors, have been debated ever since. Officially the French authorities attributed his death to heart failure after his body was found in a bathtub in a girlfriend’s Paris apartment.
As with other rockstars who died at the beginning of the 1970s, Morrison created a cottage industry which included not only the recordings by The Doors, but copies of his poetry, and reminiscences of those who knew him and believed that he may have faked his death to avoid legal issues in the United States. Notebooks and other personal items containing his writings and memorabilia continued to surface for many years after his death, in Paris and in Los Angeles. The romantic image of Morrison faking his death and remaining watchful over his work was loosely borrowed in the film Eddie and the Cruisers in 1983. Nonetheless, since July 1971, Jim Morrison has been considered a member of the 27 Club, his grave a shrine in Paris for fans of his music and souvenir hunters who have frequently vandalized his resting place.
