2 days Ago
Bust Comes As Result of Unrelated Fraud Investigation
French prosecutors have confirmed that the white marble bust of Jim Morrison, the deceased lead singer of The Doors, stolen 37 years ago from his grave in Père-Lachaise cemetery, has been recovered by police. Investigators said they stumbled upon the bust during a financial and anti-corruption inquiry unrelated to the heist.
A statute had previously been found in the course of a fraud case, a police source told Agence France-Presse. But little else is known — no suspects have been identified, and it is uncertain whether the statue will return to its original location.
The curator of Père-Lachaise informed Le Figaro that the cemetery has yet to be contacted about the statue's return.
A Symbol of Rock Legacy, Kept and Reborn
The bust, by the Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin, was made in 1981 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Morrison's death. It was swiped in 1988, only seven years after it went up. A recent photo from French police depicts the bust as still not having its mouth and nose — damage that predated the theft.
Representatives of Jim Morrison's estate said they were pleased, telling Rolling Stone they were "happy to hear the news" and hoped the statue would be returned to the grave, which they referred to as a "piece of history."
Morrison's grave has been a draw over the years for many adoring fans who have left graffiti on gravestones around his, as well as unrest at the site. On the 20th anniversary of his death police had to break up a large mob of rioting fans at the cemetery.
Remembering Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison died in 1971, at 27 years old, quite suddenly, in the Marais district of Paris. He was discovered in the bathtub of his apartment by his girlfriend Pamela Courson. A physician listed the cause of death as progressive heart failure exacerbated by alcohol use.
Morrison was born in 1943 in Florida, the son of a United States Navy admiral. He formed The Doors in Los Angeles with the keyboardist Ray Manzarek in 1965. The band took its name from The Doors of Perception, a book by Aldous Huxley inspired by Huxley's mescaline trip in the 1950s.
Morrison's grave is still a pilgrimage spot and, with the return of the stolen bust, the legacy of 1960s rock and counterculture will stay alive a little while longer.
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