Lennon, Morrison: Remembering music's greatest icons

Music lovers around the world are paying tribute to two of music's greatest legends who changed the world forever with their music.

Today is the 68th birthday of a man many regard as among the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering front-men in rock music history. James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was born on December 8, 1943 and is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of rock band “The Doors”.

Today marks 31 years since the death of John Lennon – founding member of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of pop music in the 20th century.

Coming up: Jim Morrison: Remembering music's iconic poet-singer

In 1947, at the age of 4, Morrison witnessed an incident which he believed was the most seminal in his life.

Morrison apparently witnessed a car wreck in a desert which killed or seriously injured a family of Native Americans. The incidence found resonance years later in the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album An American Prayer and again in the songs "Peace Frog" and "Ghost Song."

Morrison's family, however has no recollection of the incident as narrated by the iconic singer. His account differed vastly from that of his father and sister.

The book The Doors, by the remaining members of the band, quotes his sister as saying, "He enjoyed telling that story and exaggerating it. He said he saw a dead Indian by the side of the road, and I don't even know if that's true."

In the summer of 1965, after graduating from the UCLA, Morrison led a bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. He wrote the lyrics of many of the early songs The Doors would later perform live and record on albums, the most notable being "Moonlight Drive" and "Hello, I Love You."

Morrison and fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek were the first two members of The Doors, forming the group during that same summer of 1965. They had previously met months earlier as fellow cinematography students.

The story of their now -legendary meeting going this: Manzarek was lying on the beach at Venice one day when he accidentally encountered Morrison. He was impressed with Morrison's poetic lyrics, claiming that they were "rock group" material. Thereafter, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined. Krieger auditioned at Densmore's recommendation and was then added to the lineup.

The Doors took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception (a reference to the "unlocking" of "doors of perception" through psychedelic drug use).

The Doors achieved national recognition after signing with Elektra Records in 1967. Thereafter they appeared on the The Ed Sullivan Show, the same mighty show that had introduced The Beatles and Elvis Presley, to the United States.

By the release of their second album, Strange Days, The Doors had become one of the most popular rock bands in the United States. Their blend of blues and dark rock included a number of original songs and distinctive cover versions, such as their rendition of "Alabama Song", from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

The band also performed a number of extended concept works, including the songs "The End", "When the Music's Over", and "Celebration of the Lizard".

In 1968, The Doors released their third studio album, Waiting for the Sun. Their fourth album, The Soft Parade, was released in 1969.

Following The Soft Parade, The Doors released Morrison Hotel. After a lengthy break the group reconvened in October 1970 to record what would become their final album with Morrison, entitled L.A. Woman.

On the sidelines of Morrison's legendary music was the legendary life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. He was in an open, story and long-term relationship with Pamela Courson. He was known to get together with fans “groupies” and celebrities frequently.

At the time of his death there were reportedly as many as twenty paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the putative paternity claimants.

Jim Morrison died at age 27 due to suspected drug overdose, joining other musicians in the 27 Club – singers whose drug and alcohol fuelled lifestyle killed them at the early age. British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse being the most recent musician to tragically join the 27 Club.

Coming up: Remembering John Lennon

John Lennon, future Beatle, breaker of female hearts, peacenik and musical icon, was born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940. His parents gave him Winston as his middle name, in honour of Prime Minister Winston Churchill who was steering Britain through World War II. His parents had a fractured relationship, eventually separating and forcing the 5 year old John to choose between them. Although little John chose his mother, he lived with his aunt for most of his childhood and adolescence. He was not to see his father again till 20 years later.

Despite being John's main caregiver, his aunt did not support his musical aspirations while his mother, who had little to do with John's upbringing, did, buying him his first guitar before being hit by a car and dying when John was 17. The youthful John failed all his O levels and was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art only after his aunt and headmaster intervened. At college, he was a disruptive student and was eventually excluded from most classes. He was finally expelled in his final year, despite academic help from fellow student and future wife, Cynthia.

In 1956, a year after he got his first guitar, Lennon formed The Quarrymen, the band that was to evolve into The Beatles. At the band's second performance, Lennon met Paul McCartney and asked him to join. A 14 year old George Harrison also joined as lead guitarist and The Quarrymen became The Beatles in early 1960. Their first gig was in Hamburg, Germany and they returned their for the next two years to play. By all accounts, Lennon got up to no good in Germany, dabbling in drugs among other things. After Ringo Starr replaced then drummer Pete Best, there was no looking back for Lennon and The Beatles.

In August 1962, Lennon married Cynthia, then already pregnant with son Julian who would be born in April 1963. The next year, Britain was already in the throes of Beatlemania when the Fab Four made their historic US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. As they performed to an audience of screaming female fans in their neat suits and moptop haircuts, their names were superimposed over close ups of their faces. Over Lennon's face, these words appeared: “Sorry girls, he's married.” Lennon and The Beatles were now on their way to international superstardom.

But glittering as the next few years were for The Beatles, they were equally fraught for Lennon himself. He put on weight, worried that the screaming fans were drowning out the music at concerts, wrote Help! as a personal cry of anguish. And was introduced to LSD. During this period he also famously said in an interview: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink….We're more popular than Jesus now.” This comment went mostlu unpunished in Britain but was met with fury in the US where a wave of anti-Lennon sentiment, including burning of records and death threats, prompted The Beatles to give up touring.

After a period of spiritual self-discovery under the guidance of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, it became apparent that The Beatles were headed towards a break up. In 1967, Lennon divorced Cynthia and started a relationship with avant-garde Japanese artist, Yoko Ono. Ono was to be later vilified by fans everywhere as the reason why Lennon left The Beatles in 1969. By then, Lennon and Ono had married and collaborated on creative projects which began with Bag One, a series of lithographs depicting scenes from their honeymoon. Most of these were deemed indecent and banned.

After The Beatles broke up, Lennon pursued a solo career built on a foundation of anti-war sentiment and empowerment of the ordinary man. Among hits like Instant Karma, Working Class Hero, Power To The People and Give Peace A Chance was his most enduring song – Imagine, which quickly became the anthem for peace the world over. Lennon also returned his MBE medal to Queen Elizabeth in protest of Britain's involvement in the Nigerian Civil War. All four Beatles had received the MBE in 1965.

In 1973, Lennon and Ono separated for 18 months. He called this time the “lost weekend” and spent much of it in the company of May Pang, personal assistant to the couple, by all accounts with the consent of Ono. This was a time of professional unstability: a recording session with producer Phil Spector was abandoned because of Lennon's drinking and Spector's bizarre behaviour. But this was when Lennon began building bridges in his personal relationships, renewing his friendship with McCartney for the first time since The Beatles broke up, and meeting his son, Julian, for the first time in four years.

By 1975, Lennon and Ono were back together and their son, Sean, was born. For the next five years, Lennon was to produce no music at all, preferring to remain at home to look after his son. He formally announced his retirement in 1977, but emerged in 1980 to release a single, (Just Like) Starting Over, and then an album, Double Fantasy. He was working on a follow up album when he was shot in December 1980.

On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman, a 25 year old security guard from Hawaii, shot Lennon four times in the back outside his New York apartment building. Chapman, a born again Christian, took murderous exception to Lennon's “bigger than Jesus” comment from all those years ago.As he shot Lennon, he had a copy of JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye in his hand. Lennon was rushed to hospital, but was already dead by then. The murder is widely regarded as an assassination and plunged the world into grief and mourning. Chapman pleaded guilty and was given a life sentence. He was denied parole last year and remains in prison today.

Happy Birthday Jim Morrison. RIP John Lennon. Legends never die.