Hail the Lizard King! Jim Morrison of The Doors Died on This Day in 1971

He was a poet, an iconoclast, a rock star and a ’60s sex symbol. He’s also one of those creative but troubled personalities that left us too soon.

Jim Morrison of rock band The Doors died in Paris on July 3, 1971. He was only 27 years old.

He’d gone to Paris with girlfriend Pam Courson as a creative retreat and to get away from the turmoil of his legal troubles in the U.S.

A notoriously heavy drinker, Morrison’s mental and physical health had deteriorated in his final years. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but no autopsy was performed and no foul play was suspected.

He is buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Morrison’s life with The Doors was famously depicted in the 1991 Oliver Stone film The Doors, in which Val Kilmer brilliantly played the rock legend.

Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with fellow Doors members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore in 1993.