“I think there's a big misconception about me. A lot of people are, like, ‘Oh, Morrison? He's this rock star who's been dead for a million years.’ But what people don't know is that I'm also passionate about beauty and health and the stuff I put not just on my body but also into it.
“When I first started getting famous, I totally wasn't ready for it, especially not for what it might do to my wellness, plus my skin and energy levels. I would be out pounding tequilas and dropping acid all night, pissing onto people's heads from the top of a booth at the Whiskey, basically just not making sure to hydrate and replenish myself, you know? Jim wasn't taking care of Jim, period.
“So then Ray [Manzarek] sort of took me aside and was, like, ‘Listen, man, your hair's really really stringy, you're breaking out—you JUST aren't creating the most ideal receptacle for the Native American child's spirit that entered your body back when you passed by a reservation that one time in '47.’ And I was, like, ‘Guess what? You're so right.’ And that moment kick-started a new journey for me.”
HAIR
“Believe it or not, I don't do that much to my hair, even though I realize it's one of my signature features. Once or twice a week, I'll use an avocado deep-conditioning mask to keep it shiny and nice-smelling. Otherwise, I just wash and air dry. If I have an event, I may keep it up in a tight bun before I go out, so it's not all over the place—it can get kind of wild and crazy. It's pretty rare for me to get a blowout, I'm mostly too lazy. The funny thing is that when I got arrested onstage in '67, in New Haven, though, that was one time I did get it blown out! What are the odds? One of the cops, as he was dragging me across the floor, was, like, ‘Nice hair, you god-damned pinko.’ So sometimes it's worth it to go the extra mile for that wow factor.”
BODY
“Work out? Hell yeah, I work out. You think I got this body just by drinking and drugging? I travel so much that I'm not a member of any one particular gym, but I always try to throw a pair of sneakers in my carry-on so that wherever we find ourselves, I can do a little something. I used to think that I had to make a whole production of working out, and it kept me from doing it! Now I understand that anything that gets your pulse up is essentially good. I think I burn somewhere between fifty and a hundred calories a day at the very least just by wearing my leather pants. It's sort of like when you go to a sauna—you can almost feel the fat melting away. I can't prove this scientifically, though [laughs].”
STYLE
“For me, personal style is like poetry. It can be as beautiful and as ugly as deflowering two virgins in a motel room in Tijuana while shooting up cocaine for three days straight. Ride the snake, you know? And I think we all know what I'm talking about when I say that. One thing I'll add, and I'll leave it at this, is there's nothing that really makes an outfit more than a Navajo belt with extremely large silver conchos.”
SKIN CARE
“I love, love, love a good face mask. My favorite thing is eating some peyote, cracking open ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra,’ and putting on something super-hydrating. Otherwise, I get sort of scaly. They don't call me the Lizard King for nothing! And simple is better as far as I'm concerned. When I got to Paris, things were too fancy for me, you know? Too French. So I had people in L.A. ship me the cheapest American drugstore brands. And, for body care, I'm obsessed with essential oils. I like to just lie in the tub and soak for hours. It's real me time.”
—As told to ITG
