Free Republic

The white marble bust of the “Riders on the Storm” singer — made by Croatian artist Mladen Mikulin — was placed at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris on the 10th anniversary of Morrison’s death in 1981. The infamous sculpture, weighing nearly 300 pounds, did not appear damaged beyond the graffiti and its broken nose, which were already there when the bust went missing 37 years ago, according to newly released pictures. Morrison’s gravesite — situated in an area called the “Poets Corner”– has attracted hordes of fans since the 27-year-old was laid to rest in 1971, according to the...

Even on a gray day in Paris last week, there was one place you could find a crowd of tourists from places as varied as Rome, Tokyo and Orlando, Florida — gathered at the Pere Lachaise cemetery, around the graveside of Jim Morrison. Forget Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and the hundreds of other luminaries interred among its chestnut trees, the frontman of The Doors has long been the cemetery's headline draw. Part of the attraction is the almost mystical magnetism he exuded in life; part is the macabre mystery of his demise: How did one of the legends of the rock...