Celebration of the Lizard King: The Doors Announce Plans to Mark Their 60th Anniversary in 2025

Plans have been unveiled to mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of The Doors in 2025. Although the celebration will officially kick off next year, a pair of special releases already are planned for 2024.

The first release is a six-LP vinyl box set titled The Doors 1967-1971, which will be available on November 22. The limited-edition collection will feature High Fidelity audiophile versions of the band’s first six studio albums. They are the band’s 1967 self-titled debut, Strange Days (1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), and L.A. Woman (1971).

[RELATED: The Doors Official Anthology Available for Pre-Order Ahead of 60th Anniversary]

The LPs were cut from the original analog master recordings by acclaimed engineer Kevin Gray at the Cohearant Audio facility. The box set boasts a heavyweight gatefold jacket and features rare photos and liner notes by Doors archivist David Dutkowski. Only 3,000 copies of the collection will be available. The box set can be purchased from TheDoors.com and Rhino.com.

The second release is a four-LP vinyl version of Live in Detroit. It will be available as part of the 2024 edition of Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on November 29. The album, which originally was released as a two-CD set in 2000, features The Doors’ full performance at a May 8, 1970, concert at Cobo Arena in Detroit. Making its vinyl debut, the collection will be available exclusively at independent record shops.

The 1970 Cobo Arena concert was one of the longest shows the band ever played. The concert featured renditions of some select covers, including Junior Parker’s “Mystery Train” and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” The show also includes extended versions “The End” and “Light My Fire,” as well as rarities like “Love Hides.”

Other 60th Anniversary Plans

In early 2025, The Doors will mark their 60th anniversary by releasing a commemorative book titled Night Divides the Day. The expansive anthology volume features new interviews with the band’s surviving members, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. It also offers a variety of rare photographs, song lyrics, poster art, and other memorabilia, as well as archival conversations with late singer Jim Morrison and keyboardist Ray Manzarek.

In addition, Night Divides the Day features a foreword and afterword penned, respectively, by Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

The box will be released as a limited-edition numbered box set, each copy hand-signed by Krieger and Densmore. The volume will come packaged with a 7-inch vinyl disc featuring rare demo versions of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive.” Only 2,000 copies will be available. and other assorted historical memorabilia. Night Divides the Day can be pre-ordered now, and will be shipped in early 2025.

On the Formation of The Doors

The Doors formed after a chance meeting between Morrison and Manzarek at Venice Beach, California, in July 1965. The two recognized each other as students at UCLA and Morrison told Manzarek he’d been writing songs. At Ray’s prompting, Jim sang some of his lyrics to “Moonlight Drive.” Manzarek, who at the time was playing in his own band, Rick and the Ravens, was impressed by what he heard from Morrison, and invited him to join the group.

Densmore and Krieger, who had played together in a band called the Psychedelic Rangers, both joined Manzarek and Morrison in their group before the end of 1965. The band was rechristened The Doors, a name inspired by the two literary works—Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception and William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

The Doors’ original lineup released six studio albums before the untimely death of Morrison in July 1971 at age 27.

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