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Artist News Top Stories
Doors founder Manzarek dies
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 21 May 2013
Ray Manzarek, founder member of The Doors, has died aged 74 after suffering from bile duct cancer for many years.
The keyboardist formed the legendary band after a chance meeting with fellow founder Jim Morrison in LA in 1965. The group’s successes were many, but their career was relatively short, the band struggling to continue after the death of Morrison in 1971. They officially split two years later.
But Manzarek continued to perform with many other artists over the years, before regrouping with Doors guitarist Robby Krieger just over a decade ago in a bid to resurrect the band, a project that ran aground in a legal dispute over the Doors trademark.
Paying tribute last night, Krieger said in a statement: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I’m just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him”.
