OT: This is The End, My Friend, My Only Friend

[John Thomas]

Ray Manzarek, Doors Keyboardist, Dies at 74
By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and a founding member of the Doors whose
sinuous and melodic organ riffs defined the band’s sound, died on
Monday afternoon at a clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, after a bout with
cancer. He was 74.

Mr. Manzarek had been sick for several months with cancer of the bile
ducts, his publicist, Heidi Ellen Robinson Fitzgerald, said in a
statement. He died at about 3:31 p.m. at the RoMed Clinic in
Rosenheim. His wife, Dorothy, and his brothers, Rick and James, were
at his bedside.

Mr. Manzarek formed the Doors in 1965 with Jim Morrison, a poet and
film student and singer, after the two of them had a chance encounter
on Venice Beach in California. The band went on to become one of the
most successful and at times polarizing acts of the 1960s, selling
more than 100 million albums worldwide and producing bits like “L.A.
Woman,” “Break on Through,” “Hello, I Love You,” and “Light My Fire.”

After Morrison’s death in 1971, Mr. Manzarek and the other members —
the drummer John Densmore and the guitarist Robby Krieger — attempted
to make albums with Mr. Manzarek on vocals, but eventually split up.

Mr. Manzarek went on to have a long solo career, beginning with the
release of “The Golden Scarab,” in 1974. In 2002, he revitalized his
touring career by performing with Mr. Krieger.

“I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and
bandmate Ray Manzarek today,” Mr. Krieger said in a statement. “I’m
just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for
the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss
him.”

Mr. Manzarek is survived by his wife and brothers, as well as a son,
Pablo, and three grandchildren, Noah, Apollo and Camille.

A full obituary will be published soon.