55 Years Ago Today, This Rock Legend Fled the U.S. For the Rest of His Life
On March 11, 1971, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison fled the United States for Paris. He would then die there suddenly just four months later.
The reasons for Morrison's trans-Atlantic move were multifold. Burned out after recording The Doors' album LA Woman, Morrison had gained weight and developed addictions to alcohol and heroin. The "Light My Fire" singer had also been sentenced to six months in jail after allegedly exposing himself during a concert in Miami, and left the country before he could serve any time.
Upon moving to Paris, Morrison moved in with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson. Things went well at first. Morrison and his muse hung out with the artistic elites and vacationed in Spain and Morocco, according to Rolling Stone. But Morrison quickly slipped back into his old habits, gaining more weight from drinking and smoking so much he would cough up blood. Both he and Courson were also regularly using heroin.
Jim Morrison's Death Remains a Mystery
Morrison died in Paris on July 2, 1971 at 27, but the circumstances around his death remain a mystery. No autopsy was ever performed, so his official cause of death has never been revealed. But the common consensus is that the rock legend died of an accidental heroin overdose.
According to Doors historian Danny Sugerman, Courson had been snorting heroin with Morrison — but telling him that it was cocaine mixed with downers. This heroin ended up being a more potent form colloquially known as China White. “It’s not unusual when someone does heroin for the first time, for them to feel ill,” Sugerman told MOJO (via Performing Songwriter). “He was sick, he took a bath, he died. There was no more mystery than that.”
"As Tears Go By" singer Marianne Faithfull gives credence to this theory as well, claiming her boyfriend at the time sold Morrison the deadly drugs. “He went to see Jim Morrison and killed him,” Faithfull told MOJO (via The Guardian). “I mean I’m sure it was an accident."
There is also a camp who believes Morrison faked his death and is still alive today, living in Syracuse, N.Y. as a maintenance worker named Frank.