Star Facts
  • Category Recording

    Address 6901 Hollywood Blvd.

    Ceremony date 02/28/2007

About
Born:
1905-05-18,
Los Angeles,
California,
USA
Education:
NA
Ethnicity:
Caucasian
Death Date:
2013-05-20
Addition Websites

In memory of founding keyboardist and Walk of Famer Ray Manzarek of The Doors, flowers were placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, May 20, 2013. The star in the category of Recording is located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood. “RIP Ray.” Ana Martinez, producer of the Walk of Fame signed the card on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Throughout its existence, the group consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. The band took its name from the poet-visionary-artist William Blake, who had written, "When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear to man as they truly are.infinite." They were among the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until finally disbanding in 1973.

Although The Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone. The band has sold 80 to 100 million albums worldwide. Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger still tour sometimes, with additional musicians, as Manzarek-Krieger, performing Doors songs exclusively.

The origins of The Doors lie in a chance meeting between acquaintances and fellow UCLA film school alumni Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs and, with Manzarek's encouragement, sang "Moonlight Drive". Impressed by Morrison's lyrics, Manzarek suggested they form a band.

Keyboardist Manzarek was in a band called Rick & the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim Manzarek, while drummer John Densmore was playing with The Psychedelic Rangers, and knew Manzarek from meditation classes. In August, Densmore joined the group and, along with members of The Ravens and bass player Pat Sullivan, recorded a six-song demo in September 1965. This has since then circulated widely as a bootleg recording. That month the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger, and the final lineup ? Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore ? was complete. The band took their name from a line in William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, according to the currently festival-touring documentary on The Doors, When You're Strange.

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