Brian Jones (1942-1969) and Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

Brian Jones

February 28, 1942- July 3, 1969

41 years later

Jim Morrison

December 8, 1943- July 3, 1971

39 Years Later

Today marks the anniversaries of the deaths of two rock legends. One was a Rolling Stone and one was a Door. I'm, of course, talking about Brian Jones and Jim Morrison. Both died on the same day, different years.

Brian Jones died on July 3, 1969. The story goes that Jones was having a party at his house, which was in Cotchford Farm in East Sussex. This house used to belong to A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie The Pooh books. Jones was no longer with the Rolling Stones, as he had either left or was fired. Jones was no longer interested in the Stones. He wanted to do world music. At this party, Jones had several of his friends there and it came to the point when Jones wanted to put his swimming trunks on. Jones was told not to as he had been drinking but Jones went swimming nevertheless. It's unclear what happened after this but sooner or later, Brian's girlfriend found him at the bottom of the pool. The doctors came but it was too late: Brian Jones had died at the age of 27. Jones' death was ruled a drowning. However in 1994, Frank Thorogood, Brian's builder and friend, admitted at his death bed that he killed Brian. Thorogood died before being questioned further. As a result, the death of Brian Jones remains a mystery. Two days after Jones' death, the Stones played a free gig at Hyde Park. Mick Jagger read a poem and after the poem was finished, hundreds of butterflies were released in memory of Brian.

Two years later, Jim Morrison had died in Paris, France. Morrison and his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson were living in Paris. Morrison wanted to take a break from the Doors. Sources say that Morrison had woke up that night vomiting blood. Courson helped by holding a frying pan. Morrison then decided to take a bath, probably thinking the pain in his chest would go away. When Courson woke up in the morning, Morrison was lying dead in the bathtub. He was 27 years old. Morrison's body wasn't actually buried until three days later. No autopsy was performed and his death was ruled as a heart attack. Other people have their own theories as to how Jim Morrison really died. In his will, Morrison left everything to Courson. Courson later admitted to one Doors author that she might have killed Morrison by injecting heroin in him while he was sleeping, as Morrison had a fear for using needles. Courson would die from a drug overdose in 1974. When Morrison died, the three surviving Doors actually tried going on without him. After two albums, it just wasn't working out. So in 1973, the Doors split.

Rest in peace Brian and Jim.