Stolen Jim Morrison graveside bust found by chance after 37 years

A memorial bust stolen from the grave of Jim Morrison 37 years ago has been found.

The small statue of The Doors frontman was recovered in Paris during an investigation conducted by the French police’s financial and anti-corruption arm that was unrelated to the original theft, according to a post on the force’s Instagram.

Little information has been released about the investigation and no suspects have been named in the theft of the statue of the singer, who died in 1971.

It is not clear if the bust will be put back on the grave, with the cemetery’s curator telling French newspaper Le Figaro (via BBC News): “The police haven’t contacted us, so I don’t know whether the bust will be returned to us.”

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Croatian artist Mladen Mikulin originally carved the statue from white marble to mark the 10th anniversary of the singer’s death. But it disappeared in 1988, seven years after the bust was placed at the site.

A picture released by the French police shows the statue’s mouth and nose missing, as they had been before it was stolen.

French police have recovered the missing bust of Jim Morrison while investigating an unrelated crime. The statue that once adorned the grave of The Lizard King had been “lost” for 37 years after it was stolen from a Paris cemetery in 1988

I guess This Is The End… of the search pic.twitter.com/JD86B5WAiN

— Rock Oracle Music (@rock_oracle_) May 20, 2025

A spokesperson for the Morrison estate told Rolling Stone it was “happy to hear the news” that the “piece of history” had been found, adding that Morrison’s family wanted it on the grave “so it’s gratifying to see that it’s been recovered”.

Morrison died in July 1971 aged 27. He was found in the bathtub of a Paris apartment. At the time, Morrison and The Doors were mid-way through the recording process of their seventh album ‘Other Voices’. The official cause of death was listed as heart failure.

His grave has long been a site for fans of the rock band to pay their respects in an unusual way – graffiti sprawls across neighbouring gravestones in the poet’s corner of the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery.

Back in 2021, on the 50th anniversary of his death, fans paid their respects at his graveside.

Meanwhile, it was recently announced that a new documentary is set to explore the possibility that the late Doors frontman is still alive.

Before The End, created by Doors superfan Jeff Finn will examine the “evidence” of the theories that Morrison may still be alive, including one revolving around a man named ‘Frank X’, who works in maintenance in Syracuse, New York, but who some believe is Morrison in disguise.

The post Stolen Jim Morrison graveside bust found by chance after 37 years appeared first on NME.