After nearly 40 years, police have finally tracked down a rock music relic.
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Police have recovered a stolen bust of Jim Morrison, taken from his Paris gravesite, a renowned pilgrimage spot for fans of the legendary Doors frontman and poet.
Paris police announced on Instagram last week that a bust stolen from Père-Lachaise cemetery in 1988 was recovered during an unrelated investigation by a financial anti-corruption unit.
It’s unclear if the bust will be returned to the grave or if further investigation will follow.
In the second slide of the post, the recovered bust of the rock legend is shown damaged, with a missing nose and other chips on the face. Of course, probable fan graffiti is also visible.
Morrison was laid to rest at Père-Lachaise, the Parisian cemetery which also serves as the final resting place of numerous cultural legends, including Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, and Gertrude Stein, according to the Associated Press. In 1981, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the “Break on Through” singer’s death, a 300-pound bust created by Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin was placed on his grave.
Paris Tour Guide Wants the Rock Legend’s Bust Returned to the Grave
“I think it would be incredible if they put the bust back onto where it was, and it would attract so many more people, but the cemetery wouldn’t even be able to hold that many people,” Jade Jezzini, a tour guide, told AP. “The amount of people who would rush in here just to see the bust to take pictures of it, it would be incredible.”
Morrison has inspired generations of devoted fans who gather at his grave to reflect, celebrate, and pay homage. The site is often adorned with flowers, poetic graffiti, and liquor bottles left as heartfelt tributes.
London artist Sam Burcher recently revisited the now quieter gravesite she first encountered 40 years ago, back when Morrison’s sculpture still stood there.
“The bust was much smaller than all of these grand tombs. It was very modest, so I was quite surprised by that,” she recalled to the AP. “But the other thing was the atmosphere, it was buzzing. There were people partying, smoking, music, dancing, and then I brought strawberries and kind of gave them out to everyone … it was just such an amazing experience.”