Jim Morrison’s Lost Grave Bust Randomly Recovered by French Police

Police in France just accidentally recovered a lost gravestone bust of late rock singer Jim Morrison while investigating a completely different crime.

In a public statement, French police shared that “after 37 years of absence, the bust of Jim Morrison, stolen in 1988 from the Père Lachaise cemetery, has been found.”

Officials explained that “this iconic symbol for the singer’s fans was recovered” while they were carrying out a separate investigation “conducted by the Financial and Anti-Corruption Brigade of the Directorate of Judicial Police of the Prefecture of Police, under the authority of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

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Jim Morrison’s Stolen Grave Bust Found After 37 Years

Commenting on the major find, a spokesperson for the Morrison estate told Rolling Stone that they were “happy to hear the news” and that Morrison’s family was very eager to have this “piece of history” returned to his grave, “so it’s gratifying to see that it’s been recovered.”

Jim Morrison died in July 1971. He was 27. The Doors frontman’s body was discovered in the bathtub of a Paris apartment, with his official cause of death being listed as heart failure. At the time, The Doors were in the middle of recording their seventh studio album, Other Voices, which was released months later.

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Following Morrison’s death and the release of Other Voices, The Doors remaining membersRay Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore—went on to release two more albums: Full Circle (1972) and An American Prayer (1978). They ultimately chose to disband in the late ’70s.

Notably, 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of The Doors, which has been commemorated on social media. “In the Summer of 1965, Ray Manzarek had a chance encounter on Venice Beach with Jim Morrison, a young poet whom he knew when they were both students at UCLA’s film school,” reads a post on The Doors’ official Instagram page. “Jim told Ray he had been living on a friend’s rooftop writing songs.

“Though he had never intended to be a singer, Jim sat down on the beach and sang the new songs to Ray, who thought they were the best rock and roll lyrics he had ever heard,” the post added. “At that moment, they both agreed to start a rock band and call it The Doors. Guitar player Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore were recruited soon thereafter. The rest, as they say, is history.”