See the Last Living Members of The Doors Now, at 77 and 76
Bandmates John Densmore and Robby Krieger have been at legal odds with each other.
The Doors were one of the most important bands of the 1960s and '70s, but their time together was shorter than you might think. The band was only in existence for eight years, with their career coming to a close two years after the tragic passing of lead singer Jim Morrison in 1971. After that, the remaining members continued performing—sometimes together, sometimes solo, and sometimes with other bands. Keyboard player Ray Manzarek died in 2013 at age 74, and today there are only two remaining members of the Doors, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore.
Both Krieger and Densmore are still active in music today. And, after a falling out involving a Doors-related lawsuit, they now are back on good terms. Read on to find out more about Krieger and Densmore today.
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Krieger and Densmore performed together after the Doors were no longer active.
After Morrison's death, Krieger and Densmore started the Butts Band in 1973. The group released two albums and disbanded in 1975. In 1978, all three remaining members of the Doors got together and released An American Prayer, in which they set recordings of Morrison's spoken word poetry to music.
Krieger has continued to put out solo music.
Krieger, now 76, has been making his living as a musician ever since being part of the Doors. In addition to founding the Butts Band, he has put out several solo albums over the years—the most recent of which, The Ritual Begins at Sundown, was released in 2020. He's also recorded and performed as a guitarist with other bands, including Fuel and Alice in Chains.
In the early 2000s, Krieger and Manzarek begin performing as the Doors of the 21st Century, but after use of the band's name was disputed by Densmore, they began calling their band Manzarek-Krieger.
In 2021, Krieger released his book, Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors.
He's married and has a son.
Krieger has been married to his wife Lynn Krieger since 1970, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary two years ago. The couple have a son, Waylon Krieger, who is also a musician and has performed with Krieger.
"It's been great," Krieger told People in 2021 about making music with his son. "We've been doing that for the last six or eight years. He played in my Robby Krieger Band, but now he's the frontman. He's really great. It's amazing. I think maybe some of Jim's soul might have jumped into him."
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Densmore has expressed his creativity in various ways.
After the Butts Band, Densmore became involved in theater as an actor, musician, writer, and producer. He also started the band Tribaljazz.
Densmore, 77, has focused a lot of his time on writing and has penned three books as well as articles for various publications, according to his website. Densmore's autobiography, Riders on the Storm, was released in 1990; his book The Doors: Unhinged, about his legal disputes with his fellow Doors members, came out in 2013; and in 2020, he published The Seekers: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists).
Like Krieger, he's also a father.
Densmore has been married twice: to Julia Brose from 1970 to 1972 and then to actor Leslie Neale in 1990. He has two children. In 2020, he mentioned his kids in a piece written for The Wall Street Journal.
"Today, I live in Santa Monica in a Craftsman built in 1921. I moved into the three-bedroom house 30 years ago," he wrote. "I love it here. I'm not far from the ocean. The mountains are right behind me and I hike up there all the time. My two adult kids have moved out, so it's a little large."
The band members have been on the opposite sides of some legal issues.
Densmore faced off with Kriger and Manzarek over their use of the band name the Doors of the 21st Century and over their support of allowing Doors music to be licensed for commercial use. Densmore has been adamantly against the music being used in ads, and Morrison's estate has sided with him.
In 2013, Densmore told the Los Angeles Times that he was able to start patching things up with his bandmates prior to Manzarek's death.
"The healing between me and Ray and Robbie had already begun before Ray passed, and that feels good," he said. "When I heard Ray was sick, I called him, and we had a nice closure, thank god."
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