Jim Morrison overdose death
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Jim Morrison, born James Douglass Morrison (1943–1971), former lead singer of The Doors, was a cultural—if not mythical—icon in life and a legend in death. Morrison is canonized as one of the most influential music artists of his generation and indispensable to rock music history due to his artistic contribution to rock and the psychedelia subculture. His addiction to alcohol and heroin, among other drugs, not only deteriorated his internal health, but his all-too-often intoxicated state caused him to seriously physically injure himself on several occasions, such as falling from hotel room windows, falling on stage during The Doors’ performances, and ejecting himself from a moving vehicle. His untreated mental state, multiple physical conditions, alcoholism, and drug abuse all contributed to his untimely death at the young age of 27.
Morrison formed The Doors in 1965 and remained the band’s frontman until his death. After long-term drug abuse and experimentation, a tumultuous relationship with his life partner Pamela Courson that involved drug abuse and affairs, and several physical ailments, Morrison was seriously struggling with his health and maintaining his enthusiasm for The Doors yet dealt flippantly with both situations. His suave, mysterious rock-star appearance gradually deflated as he increasingly gained more weight from excessive alcohol and food consumption, grew a thick beard, and was oppressed by poor respiratory and physical health. He became careless regarding his self-conduct and started missing appointments, arriving late to performances, performing intoxicated, and behaving inappropriate in public. He had been arrested several times for lewd behavior and obscenity, but his infamous 1969 Miami performance at Coconut Grove’s Dinner Key Auditorium ignited a contentious trial. Morrison was arrested and charged for one felony count of lewd and lascivious behavior and three misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open profanity, and drunkenness. His arrest and trial dragged out for a year and a half, ending in a guilty verdict for indecent exposure and obscenity. Afterward he left for Paris where he could avoid serving his sentence, hide from the media, detach from The Doors, and delve further into his poetry. He remained in Paris on an expired visa from March 1971 until his death in early July.
The details of Morrison’s death remain unclear, unconfirmed, and even convoluted due to multiple controversies. The true details are buried under a coordinated cover-up between Courson and her drug supplier Jean de Breuteuil and the lax investigation of Paris law enforcement. According to Stephen Davis’ account in his book Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend, the rumor that Morrison overdosed in a restroom at the Rock and Roll Circus nightclub after snorting a large amount of Chinese heroin, was carried to his apartment at rue Beautrellis, and was then left for dead in his bathtub is untrue. Though the overdose reportedly occurred, Davis says it was not the cause of his death as it took place at the end of June 1971. Morrison somehow recovered from the episode but showed signs of serious damage to his health. Davis says Morrison had been experiencing recurring bouts of long coughing fits and chest spasms for the last year of his life due to his heavy alcohol and nicotine consumption. Sometimes Morrison would cough up blood or plasma from his lungs, and most of the time he let his condition go untreated. Courson would sometimes consult a doctor or take Morrison to the hospital, but Morrison was usually told to get rest and remain in a warm climate. After the Rock and Roll Circus episode, Morrison was coughing on and off uncontrollably and violently, yet continued drinking through July 1st and 2nd with friends and Courson.
Davis retells the timeline of Morrison’s death based on the accounts of Courson (although she has changed her story repeatedly), Morrison’s friends Alain Ronay and Angès Varda, and Courson’s friend and drug supplier de Breuteuil. The night of July 2nd, Morrison attended a movie with Courson, had dinner (along with several drinks) at a local bar, and returned to their home. Courson and Morrison snorted multiple hits of Courson’s heroin, which was supplied to her by de Breuteuil. Morrison was having trouble breathing and began coughing. Courson gave Morrison more lines of heroin before bed. Courson fell into heroin-induced sleep several times throughout the night, waking up around 4:00 am to find Morrison gurgling and unresponsive. She attempted to revive him by shaking him, slapping his face, and then hitting him until he awoke. Morrison staggered into the bathroom in pain, and one of them started a bath for him. Courson fell asleep again, only to awake to the sound of Morrison vomiting. She assisted him as he vomited plasma and blood and then refilled the bath for him three times to clean up the vomit. Morrison told Courson he felt better and Courson returned to bed. She awoke again at sunrise and tried to open the bathroom door. It was locked and she heard no response from Morrison. She called de Breuteuil for help, and he came to the couple’s apartment. De Breuteuil broke a glass window and unlocked the latch to the bathroom door, where they discovered Morrison dead in the bathtub with dried blood on his face that had poured from his nose and mouth. Morrison had two large bruises on his chest and the bath water was thoroughly mixed with his blood, evidencing that Morrison had hemorrhaged and bled to death.
In France, an autopsy is not required if foul play is not suspected, so de Breuteuil advised Courson to tell police that Morrison had heart disease so they would not suspect murder. Morrison’s death is reported in France’s Police Commission’s official investigative report to be a natural death involving heart failure aggravated by the abuse of alcohol. The only two people who really knew what happened the morning of July 3, 1971—Courson and de Breuteuil—fled from Paris and themselves died shortly after Morrison’s death, also of heroin overdose. Morrison is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in eastern Paris, which remains the cemetery’s most visited grave.
