Ray Manzarek, a founding member of and keyboardist for the legendary 1960s rock group The Doors, died yesterday at a clinic in Germany. He was 74.
He had been battling cancer, the group’s manager, Tom Vitorino said.
Manzarek, who lived in Northern California’s Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment in Germany for bile-duct cancer, Vitorino said. He died in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his wife and brothers.
Singer Jim Morrison and then-UCLA film student Manzarek formed the seminal band in 1965 after a chance meeting at Los Angeles’ Venice Beach, and Manzarek’s keyboard work would go on to be a touchstone of hits like “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” and “Light My Fire.”
The band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, jas sold some 100 million records since its heyday.
Manzarek’s electric organ was a defining aspect next to Morrison’s booming voice in the band’s blues- and jazz-influenced take on rock and roll.