Is Jim Morrison alive? Exploring the conspiracy theory about The Doors' frontman

14 March 2025, 13:39

Forget Paul Is Dead... what if Jim Is Alive?

All of the tragic members of the original so-called "27 club" – Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison – died in somewhat mysterious circumstances.

Drugs were removed (and returned) from the scene of Joplin's death, the coroner recorded an open verdict for Hendrix, and there are recurring theories that Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones was murdered.

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But the theories around the death of Jim Morrison are on a totally different level.

While his grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is one of the most visited (and most graffitied) in the world, there are some people who believe that Jim Morrison never died at all.

Yes, you read that right. While one set of conspiracy theorists are adamant that "Paul is Dead", others are convinced that Jim Is Alive.

To pick this one apart, first we have to look at exactly when, where and how Jim Morrison actually died (according to the official record, anyway).

The Doors - The End (Live At the Isle Of Wight 1970)

Jim Morrison was found dead on July 3, 1971 at 6am in the bathtub of an apartment at 17–19, Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris.

The flat had been rented by Pamela Courson, Jim's 25-year-old girlfriend who was staying there with him at the time

As for how Morrison died, his cause of death was listed as "heart failure", but there was no autopsy done on the body as it was not required by French law.

"Miss Courson told us she called a police ambulance immediately on finding Morrson unconscious in the bathtub," a police officer was quoted as saying in the Lodi-News Sentinel a week after Jim's passing.

"When the ambulance got there, Morrison was already dead."

Morrison's manager Bill Siddons was quoted as saying that Jim had "seen a doctor in Paris about a respiratory problem and had complained of this problem on Saturday, the day of his death".

As for what Jim was doing in Paris, he was on a short break from The Doors having just finished the recording of L.A. Woman with the band in Los Angeles, and was said to be using his time in France to write.

The lack of autopsy and Morrison's well-known drug use and high profile brushes with the law naturally led to immediate claims and conspiracy theories that his death wasn't the result of a simple "heart failure".

In fact, someone as famous and quirky as Jim was the subject to mad theories even when he was alive and well.

The Doors - Riders On The Storm (Official Music Video)

"I got a phone call and I didn't believe it because we used to hear s**t like that all the time – that Jim jumped off a cliff or something," said The Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger on hearing of Morrison's death.

"So we sent our manager off to Paris, and he called and said it was true."

But some pretty big names instantly suggested that something was untoward with the "official" story that Jim had passed away in the bath with Pam nearby.

Founder and manager of the Rock 'n' Roll Circus night club Sam Bernett claimed to have found Morrison unconscious in a locked toilet of his own club after what appeared to be a heroin overdose at 2am that night – four hours before Pamela reported finding his body at their apartment.

"When we found him dead, he had a little foam on his nose, and some blood too, and the doctor said, ‘That must be an overdose of heroin,'" Bernett wrote in his book The End

He said that Jim's body was taken away from the club from two drug dealers who had provided the heroin that killed him, and that they may have put him in the bath in an attempt to revive him.

"I think he was already dead," said writer/photographer Patrick Chauvel, who was helping out at the bar at the time, noting that no ambulance was called.

Years later, Marianne Faithfull backed up part of the story, telling Mojo that it was her then-boyfriend Jean de Breiteuil who was the heroin dealer who accidentally killed Jim.

"I could intuitively feel trouble," Faithfull said. "I thought, I'll take a few Tuinal and I won’t be there. And he went to see Jim Morrison and killed him.

"I mean I'm sure it was an accident. Poor bastard. The smack was too strong? Yeah. And he died. And I didn't know anything about this."

The Doors - Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Official Video]

With heroin everywhere at the time, the opportunities to check these stories with those involved has long disappeared.

Breiteuil himself died of an overdose in Tangier, Morocco, in 1971, as did Courson three years later.

Early conspiracy theories suggested that Jim's death was actually orchestrated by the CIA to halt the counterculture (a bit late, lads), or the French secret services for some reason or other.

But beyond the not-so-small matter of how he died, even in the immediate aftermath of his death there was the clam that Jim Morrison was indeed alive, if not quite well.

A music magazine in Paris even ran a picture of Jim alongside the headline Jim Morrison Not Dead, while reporting that he was suffering only from tiredness and a minor illness.

The reason for this first wave of disinformation may have been well-intentioned.

"The initial news of his death and funeral was kept quiet because those of us who knew him intimately and loved him as a person wanted to avoid all the notoriety and circus-like atmosphere that surrounded the deaths of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix," said Siddons.

"The whole reason I went to Paris and didn't announce the death was…he went there in March to write and rest. In Paris, he'd found some peace and happiness and worked LA out of his system.

"It may be hard to understand, but it was hard to live here [in Los Angeles] and live what everybody thought he was. There was no service, and that made it all the better. We just threw some flowers and dirt and said goodbye."

The Doors - L.A. Woman [Animated Timeline]

There were just four mourners at Morrison's private funeral.

Without a formal autopsy and so few people present for his burial, the rumours of Morrison's lack of demise have persisted.

They've even been collected in a three-part streaming documentary called Before The End, compiled by Doors fan Jeff Finn.

In the film, Finn interviews Morrison's one-time assistant Robyn Wurtele.

"She admitted she knows far more about Jim's alleged death, and told me... 'If he asked me not to say anything to you, then I can't say anything. Can I?'," Finn claimed.

"'My jaw needed to be removed from the floor. I asked Robyn if Jim faked his death. She replied, 'That's the secret I'm keeping to myself'."

Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison [official trailer] © 2025 Z-Machine, LLC

Finn also interviews a maintenance man named Frank who was once photographed with The Doors drummer John Densmore back in 2013.

Incredibly, Finn actually believes that "Frank", who lives in Syracuse, New York, could be Jim Morrison in disguise.

Apart from the slightest of physical resemblance, the "evidence" for the claim JIm is still alive comes from some supposed irregularities around Frank's ID, supposed social security oddness and some supposed photos of "Jim" taken after his death.

“Are you Jim Morrison?” Finn asks Fank outright in the film. "I'm not Jim… except I love the song ['We All Are One'] by Jimmy Cliff. "We all are one, we are the same person... that’s one way to look at it.”

That's probably not quite enough for most people, but this new film is likely to keep those conspiracy flames going a while yet all the same.