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The original Doors released six studio LPs and one concert album during their brief existence, and all of them reached the top 10 in Billboard. As the liner notes on this 50th anniversary deluxe edition of Waiting for the Sun reminds us, however, it is the only one of their albums that made it all the way to the top of the charts. That doesn’t make it their best release—some of Jim Morrison’s vocals are actually below par here, as are a few of the compositions. Still, there’s a lot to like on this third Doors LP, and it’s not difficult to see why it did so well commercially.

Gene Simmons says that his new book, 27: The Legend and Mythology of The 27 Club, examines the stories of great musicians who died at age 27, from Janis Joplin to NIRVANA's Kurt Cobain to, more recently, Amy Winehouse. The book is the first release on his new Simmons Booksimprint.

Kiss singer/bassist Gene Simmons has published a new book focusing on the “27 club,” that informal collective of unfortunate stars who passed away at the age of 27. Titled 27: The Legend and Mythology of the 27 Club, the book features profiles of such late music stars as Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors‘ Jim Morrison, Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

The Lizard King is dead! Or is he? When Pamela Courson discovered her lover Jim Morrison lifeless body in their Parisian apartment bathroom on July 3, 1971, the whole world mourned for the rebel who defined counterculture. His funeral was kept quiet with few in attendance, and people wonder why his burial was so hush-hush. Is there more behind the death of the leather-clad god? Or is it all one big conspiracy? Ruled as a death caused by heart failure, the young musician died young, but he left behind a legacy that continues to live on fifty years later.

John Densmore, drummer

Jim Morrison wrote the words for Hello, I Love You when we were still in a band called Rick & the Ravens. “Sidewalk crouches at her feet / Like a dog that begs for something sweet.” That’s a crazy great lyric! He couldn’t play an instrument but he’d come up with melodies in order to remember his incredible words. We’d been walking around the boardwalk of Venice, one of the few diverse areas in LA in the 60s, when Jim saw an African American girl. She was the “dusky jewel” who inspired the song.