A wild new documentary has claimed that Jim Morrison is secretly alive – despite The Doors legend dying in 1971.
He was found dead at age 27 in Paris but over the last 50 years, a conspiracy that the Roadhouse Blues singer is alive and well has been growing.
The Doors — Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore — had formed in 1965 and were highly influential on the counterculture rock scene.
The loss of their frontman is widely regarded as the end, despite the band releasing two albums as a trio before disbanding in 1973.
A new documentary, Before The End, has been released on Apple TV+, claiming Morrison, who would be 82 now, is living a normal life in Syracuse.
Filmmaker and lifelong fan Jeff Finn examined ‘evidence’ that Morrison is now a man named Frank, who bears similarities to the late singer.
The mystery surrounding his death has allowed for conspiracies to thrive about what happened in Paris and if he really died at all.
How did Jim Morrison die?
In March 1971, Morrison and The Doors agreed he should take a short break from the band after trouble with the law and unruly behaviour.
Months prior, he had announced his intention to leave the group but Manzarek asked him to stay for six more months while they finished recording their next album.
He moved to Paris with his girlfriend Pamela Courson, who rented a flat in the historic Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement.
Morrison’s time in France consisted of walks throughout the city, he also shaved his beard and lost weight according to letters sent.
Densmore is thought to be the last band member to speak to him after the frontman called to ask if album L.A. Woman was performing commercially.
Then, on July 3, 1971, the Riders on the Storm singer was found dead in his bathtub by Courson at 6am.
According to Courson, his last words to her were: ‘Pam are you still there?’ while he bathed.
The official cause of death was listed as heart failure but no autopsy was conducted on Morrison as it is not required by French law.
Did Jim Morrison die of a heroin overdose?
It was heavily speculated that he had died from an accidental heroin overdose, perpetuated by singer Marienne Faithfull who claimed to be an eyewitness.
In 2014, she claimed it was her then-boyfriend, a heroin dealer named Jean de Breteuil, who was responsible for Morrison’s death by selling him drugs.
‘He went to see Jim Morrison and killed him,’ she told Mojo. ‘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.’
This rumour was backed up by Sam Bernett, founder and manager of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus night club, who claimed Morrison was found in the club at 2am, unconscious.
He had supposedly overdosed already and was said to have been removed by two men who dropped him back at his flat; however, with no autopsy, the drug claims have never been confirmed.
Bizarrely, other friends reported that Morrison hated heroin and would become angry at Courson for using, throwing yet more mystery onto his death.
After his body was discovered, several of the People Are Strange singer’s friends said he was resting in the hospital at the time.
Film director Agnès Varda admitted before her death in 2019 that they had tried to stop the incident from becoming public news.
It has since been speculated that this was in an attempt to protect Courson from any criminal implications as she herself was an addict during a time when rehab was non-existent.
Courson died from a drug overdose three years later, also at the age of 27.
What are the conspiracies around Jim Morrison’s death?
Given the fact Morrison’s death was already surrounded in inconsistencies from Courson and his friends, it was primed for conspiracies to grow.
His hasty burial in Paris’ Père Lachaise Cemetery with only four guests — one later confirmed to be Varda — added to the rumours.
The biggest conspiracy theory is that Morrison faked his own death to escape the life of fame and the pressures of the spotlight.
The documentary’s main evidence is a man named Frank who looks a lot like the late singer and is around the age Morrison would be now.
Many believers point to a picture of the maintenance man from Syracuse with The Doors drummer Densmore in 2013 as proof the band knows him.
Finn interviews Frank in Before The End, sceptically admitting he is likely just a Doors fan with an uncanny resemblance.
‘Are you Jim Morrison,’ he asked during the interview rather directly, to which Frank responded: ‘I’m not Jim… except I love the song [We All Are One] by Jimmy Cliff.’
He quoted the lyrics, ‘We all are one, we are the same person,’ and added: ‘That’s one way to look at it.’
Along with Frank, a man named William Loyer who lived in Oregon, was also suspected of being Morrison over the years.
The Doors keyboardist, Manzerek, often leaned into this speculation, saying he could believe it from conversations he had had with the frontman.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Jim turned up,’ he famously said on several occasions, encouraging speculation that guitarist Kreiger reportedly hated.
The documentary does not present any new evidence or discoveries as the case is so opaque, and many of those involved are no longer alive.
De Breteuil and Courson both died within a few years of Morrison and Faithfull, who was a singer in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus club, died in January 2025.
Kreiger and Densmore are the only remaining living Doors members but neither were there when Morrison died.
Even with Finn’s compiled evidence, fans will never know the truth of what happened to Morrison on that fateful night in 1971.
Before The End: Searching for Jim Morrison is available to watch on Apple TV+ now.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
