50 years after his death, fans honour Jim Morrison

PARIS: Hundreds of fans gathered at Jim Morrison's grave to pay tribute to the American singer and poet on the 50th anniversary of his death in Paris.

Making the journey from Germany, Spain and America, they spent the day singing "Light My Fire", "Break on Through" and other hits from The Doors.

With no alcohol, weed smoking or loud music allowed on the premises, the mood at the Pere Lachaise cemetery was subdued for most of the day.

Any fan outburst was swiftly met by the friendly but firm cemetery security forces.

After a lengthy negotiation, some Polish visitors who brought in bottles of wine and other alcohol and were carrying bags, with what looked like sleeping bags, were prompted to leave.

Karolina Becker came to Paris from Frankfurt, Germany just for the occasion.

She's been a fan for over 13 years and said it was important for her to be there because Morrison was "one of the most important artists".

Like most people who had come, Parisians Marie-Noelle Liesse and her husband Arnaud caught the Morrison bug when they were teenagers.

They reminisced coming to the Pere Lachaise for the 40th anniversary, when Ray Mazarek, keyboardist for The Doors, and guitarist Robby Krieger lit candles at the grave before performing a tribute show at Paris music venue Le Bataclan.

Now parents of a 9 year-old son, Amaury, and a 6-year-old year daughter, Orthense, the Liesses were eager for their children to experience the anniversary's friendly atmosphere.

As the cemetery closed its doors at 6 o'clock (1600GMT), fans flocked to nearby bars where music by The Doors was expected to go on all night long.

On 3 July 1971, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison was found dead in a Paris bathtub by his girlfriend Pamela Courson. He was 27 years old.

Morrison had arrived in Paris just three and a half month earlier.

He had recently completed The Doors' sixth studio album "L.A. Woman" and was appealing a profanity and indecent exposure conviction which carried a six-months jail sentence.

The lengthy trial had taken a toll on the American rockstar whose alcohol intake was legendary and it's a chubby, full-bearded Morrison that landed in the French capital in March 1971.

On the morning of July 3rd, first responders found him dead in his apartment's bathtub.

No autopsy was performed and accounts of what caused his death are disputed.