Inducted:
1993
Category:
Performer
Inducted By:
Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)
For ‘60s audiences eager for drama and chaotic beauty, the Doors’ fusion of blues, jazz and psychedelic rock was just the ticket. Jim Morrison reinvented the frontman, his brooding, Beat-inspired lyrics, commanding voice, physical magnetism, and fearless anti-authoritarianism creating a durable template. Ray Manzarek’s swirling organ figures conjured everything from cabaret to circus, while Densmore’s unpredictable rhythms and Krieger’s fiery guitar completed a unique, L.A.-centric vibe.
Induction
Impact
I played the Doors over and over, listened intensely to every instrument, every word. Like The Matrix, it all fell into place. I knew then how music was built.
Julian Casablancas
The Strokes
Signature Sound
Psychedelic Poetic Rock
Blending psychedelic rock, blues, and jazz, the Doors crafted a compellingly dark sound, delivered in legendarily confrontational performances. Their seminal 1967 debut launched them into the stratosphere, and controversy. Over five years, they defied boundaries, broke taboos, and, with Morrison’s voice, boldly blurred the lines between rock lyrics and Dionysian poetry.
The Doors hit the ground running with this seven-minute (album version) psychedelic jazz-rock masterpiece, hitting No. 1 on the Hot 100.
From the Museum
LeatherKing
Famous for his skintight black leather hip-hugger pants worn onstage, Jim Morrison’s penchant for skin found him frequently clothed in it.
He wore this Western-style suede coat in the photograph on the back cover of 1968’s Waiting for the Sun. The band’s third studio album, it was their only LP to reach No. 1.
From the Museum
LeatherKing
Famous for his skintight black leather hip-hugger pants worn onstage, Jim Morrison’s penchant for skin found him frequently clothed in it.
He wore this Western-style suede coat in the photograph on the back cover of 1968’s Waiting for the Sun. The band’s third studio album, it was their only LP to reach No. 1.
1993 hall of fame essay
"The Doors were never part of any movement. Indeed, during an era of very high fliers, their visionary trajectory sought an orbit positioned well outside of the rock norm."
– Paul A. Rothchild & Danny Sugerman
Check It OutInfluence
Influences
Thelonious Monk
John Coltrane
Johann Sebastian Bach
Jack Kerouac
The Doors
sealed with a signature
This is the signature that appears on the inductee’s plaque at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to officially commemorate their induction.
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