The Cult took a hiatus in 2002, following a less-than-stellar comeback that saw them release the album, Beyond Good and Evil. It was the band’s first record in 7 years, following their hiatus in 1994. During their hiatus in the early 2000’s, Ian Astbury of The Cult fronted The Doors but the whole project was fraught with legal problems from the start.
“…I loved David Bowie and T. Rex but I was drawn to The Doors. They were so different, so much darker.” – Ian Astbury
Ian Astbury discovered The Doors at age 10 and the Danny Sugarman book about The Doors, No One Here Gets Out Here Alive, was a sort of Bible to him. He revealed in a 2003 interview, “I probably first heard them when I was 9 or 10, on my parents’ transistor radio. At the time, I loved David Bowie and T. Rex but I was drawn to The Doors. They were so different, so much darker.”
Astbury was such a fan of The Doors he almost got cast in Oliver Stone’s biopic about the band in 1989. That close call got Astbury on the radar of the surviving members of the band.
Ian Astbury’s World Falls Apart
By the mid- to late 90’s, Astbury’s world fell apart. The Cult had taken a hiatus as tensions with guitarist Billy Duffy reached new heights, his marriage at the time crumbled, he started abusing alcohol and he was still reeling from a $61 million lawsuit brought on by the family of a young boy who claimed his image had been used on an album cover of The Cult’s 1991 record Ceremony Without Permission.
Astbury would find sanctuary in a spiritual trip to Tibet and a trip to Cuba. When he returned home, he left his wife and went to therapy. He remembered, “I made big breakthroughs in therapy in 1998. That was my big clear-out year.”
The following year, Astbury’s involvement with the surviving members of The Doors got started as he joined guitarist Robby Krieger during one of his solo gigs. The Doors’ surviving members reunited in 2000 to perform on VH1’s Storytellers TV Show. The band was joined by numerous guest vocalists, including Ian Astbury.
The Doors of the 21st Century
By 2002, The Doors were ready to hit the road with Astbury fronting the band. The reunited lineup plus Astbury called themselves The Doors Of the 21st Century. Surviving drummer John Densmore wasn’t able to be part of the reunion as his bandmates claimed he was suffering from tinnitus and would be replaced by The Police’s drummer Stewart Copeland.
Densmore contended that by the time the tour started, he had recovered fully and that he was fired by the band after reading an article in Billboard Magazine saying, “I thought, ‘Oh, ok, I’m fired in the paper.’ I called Robby and said, ‘Robby, you’ve got to change the name, please.'”
“…They are wonderful musicians but my point is they are not The Doors.” – John Densmore
Densmore was frustrated by the band’s arrangement, saying, “I’m troubled by one guy singing the whole night. There are Doors cover bands in every city and we shouldn’t join that, should we? No disrespect to Ian Astbury or Stewart Copeland. They are wonderful musicians but my point is they are not The Doors.”
Densmore also complained about the phrase, “Of the 21st Century” as it was little more than fine print in advertisements and that the new band displayed Morrison’s image dozens of times during concerts.
Copeland was forced to withdraw from touring after he broke his arm following a biking accident. He was replaced by Ty Dennis, who played in Krieger’s solo band.
Jim Morrison’s Parents File Lawsuit
As the Doors of the 21st Century hit the road, they were slapped with lawsuit after lawsuit. In April of 2003, it was reported that Jim Morrison’s parents had filed a lawsuit against the surviving members of The Doors and even Ian Astbury for misappropriating the band’s name, claiming it isn’t The Doors without their son. Also involved in the lawsuit were the parents of Morrison’s girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who claimed she owned half of Morrison’s share in The Doors.
John Densmore Sues Doors of the 21st Century
Later in 2003, the band was hit with another lawsuit by original drummer John Densmore. Densmore’s suit, which seeked unspecified damages, claims that written and oral agreements mandate that The Doors’ name and logo can be used only by the original band members and that “Doors of the 21st Century” and The Doors’ logo for the Astbury’s collaboration was a violation of the band’s agreement.
Stewart Copeland Sues for $1 Million
The lawsuits didn’t end there. Stewart Copeland filed his own lawsuit, claiming he was dismissed without reason and not paid money owed to him, which amounted to about $1 million. Copeland’s lawsuit would be settled out of court in 2003.
The Densmore lawsuit stems from a 1970 agreement signed by the 4 original band members that any business deal would require a unanimous vote of The Doors. The agreement was reached after Morrison and the other 3 members got into a violent disagreement over using “Light My Fire” in a Buick television commercial. While the 3 partners had initially agreed to the commercial, Morrison vehemently disagreed and the commercial was not done.
After Morrison’s death in Paris in 1971, the remaining band members and the parents split Morrison’s share of The Doors’ music and memorabilia. Each partner has veto power over business deals. It was during the 90’s that General Motors offered the partnership $15 million to use “Light My Fire” to sell Cadillacs. Everyone but Densmore wanted to take the deal. Densmore also refused an endorsement deal offered by Apple.
Riders On the Storm
In 2007, Astbury quit The Doors and reformed The Cult again. The following year, the surviving members of The Doors announced a new project titled Riders On The Storm. The band featured 2 original members of The Doors and a new singer, Brett Scallions, formerly of the band Fuel, who would front the band.
The tour with Astbury grossed more than $8 million and net $3.2 million, which went to the new band’s company called Doors Touring, Inc., none of which went to Densmore or the parents of Jim Morrison or his girlfriend.
In 2008, the legal battle finally came to an end as the California Supreme Court refused to take up the case. What did this mean? Keyboardists Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger were on the hook for more than $5 million after lower courts found them to have improperly invoked The Doors’ name and images during a 2003 concert tour.
The $5 million settlement would end up being split by drummer John Densmore, the parents of Jim Morrison and the parents of his deceased wife, Pamela Courson, who died in 1974.
Like this story? Check out How Negativland Exposed U2’s Hypocrisy
Check out our YouTube channel
i saw many concerts of the Doors of 21 century and also Rider on the Storm. Most incredible concerts i have seen in my life and i am 67 so i have seen many. The band may have taken a loss, but Ian, Ray, Robbie, Ty, and Phil brought so much joy to myself and family members . Thanks so much guys….plus Ian is as close as you can get to Jim Morrison.!!!!
My story. I saw this band in Orange County during that tour. It was pretty sweet considering I wasn’t alive when the doors were in existence. There used to be a band in Orange County called Wild Child that was a cover band of the Doors and they were amazing. I knew a bassist who knew people in the band and we’d go check them out and hang out beforehand with the group. The singer would walk in and he was dressed like jim, look like him, and talk like him. He always seem like he was in a different Dimension and barely chatted with you. “Man, yeah, uh-huh, cool…..” and we start talking about the craziest stuff. He was like Jim Morrison. It was so uncanny where is the rest of the band seem like they were just dressed up like the other members and would be drinking and chit-chatting, the singer was just in his own little world…… and was an incredible stage presence with all the mannerisms….
What a bunch of greedy, litigious bastards Courson and Morrison’s parents are.
Like they haven’t already profited enough without contributing ANYTHING to this amazing group of musicians.