May 20, 2013 Ray Manzarek passed away from cancer. He was the co-founder of The Doors. He leaves behind a legacy that will remain forever. Ray was a talented musician, songwriter, author, filmmaker, and much more. He will always be remembered for creating one of the most famous rock groups ever-The Doors.
Ray and Jim Morrison met at UCLA film school and became friends. Ray had been trained as a classical pianist and had been playing jazz at various clubs around Los Angeles. After they finished school they met again and Jim started telling him about the concerts he heard in his head. Together on the beach in Venice California they came up with the idea of the group and the name The Doors.
The magic that they created that fateful day will live on, just as the legacy of Jim Morrison has. Despite the difficulties Jim Morrison created Ray always remained his friend and paid countless tributes to Jim after his passing.
He directed and produced several short films. He won an award at the Cannes film festival for his direction of the short film “LA Woman” in 1985.
For me personally Ray’s passing represents a loss of another part of my youth. Life is certainly short and it brings home the point when someone famous who impacted your life passes. After Jim Morrison died I continued to follow the other Doors and there work over the decades. Ray always struck me as a very kind and gentle soul. He certainly stood out in The Doors with his tall lanky body and blond hair. Watching him play piano and bass at the same time was nothing short of incredible!
Throughout the Internet tributes are being paid to Ray. The most appropriate are those remarks from the remaining members of The Doors.
Robby Krieger (Doors guitarist)
“I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek. 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.”
John Densmore (Doors drummer)
“There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother.”
I spent time last night in meditation and went into a trance and I saw Jim Morrison greet Ray and there were no words just a big smile on Jim’s face at seeing his old friend. I’m sure that Ray and Jim will continue making great music in the Spirit World.
Thank you Ray Manzarek for being an important part of my life.
With love,
Cherokee Billie
Cherokee Billie Spiritual Advisor 
Comments on: "The passing of a Legend-Ray Manzarek Co-Founder of The Doors" (4)
May Ray rest in peace. An icon in his own right, he leaves us with the magic he helped to create with the Doors.
Amen! 🙂
Robby Krieger he’s released another statement via his Facebook page.
Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison were the two most unusual people I have ever known. It didn’t take long to realize this about Jim. He was obviously a genius, and he worked hard at being different. Did a good job of it too. Ray on the other hand, was a late bloomer. I guess it took all of his [and our ] energies to keep Jim in line. The real Ray didn’t appear until after Jim was gone. He was constantly doing projects with different people, producing, playing with different poets. He always saw the good side of people, and that was his genius. He was the only guy at UCLA that saw something good about Jim. Everyone else thought of Jim as a phony or worse. He saw the genius of Jim’s words and the rest is history. Ray sure did influence my life, and I hope yours to. I’ll always be grateful to John for introducing me to Ray and Jim, and I’ll never forget them. – Robby Krieger, May 20, 2013
L’hypothèse d’un simple arrêt du cœur à la suite d’une vie d’excès (Morrison se vantait d’avoir pris deux cents fois de l’acide) paraît encore la plus vraisemblable : il reste néanmoins que cette mort mystérieuse, à un âge si peu avancé, dans le pays même qui vit naître Rimbaud , ne pouvait qu’ajouter à la légende de Jim Morrison et contribuer à lui offrir une aura de « poète maudit » que plus rien ne pourra contredire aujourd’hui puisque le seul témoin direct, Pamela Courson, est décédée d’une overdose d’héroïne en 1974. Les membres restants tentèrent malgré tout de faire survivre le groupe mais deux albums boudés par le public, Other Voices (1971) et Full Circle (1972), poussent le groupe à l’éclatement. Il se reforme brièvement en 1978 pour composer des morceaux qui serviront de support mélodique aux enregistrements de poèmes réalisés par Morrison le 8 décembre 1970, et publiés en disque sous le titre An American Prayer. L’intérêt pour The Doors fut ensuite relancé par Oliver Stone qui consacra, en 1991 , son film The Doors au parcours du groupe, en s’inspirant de la biographie de Jim Morrison écrite en 1980 par Jerry Hopkins et Danny Sugerman, No One Here Gets Out Alive (Personne ne sortira d’ici vivant).