If you're even a little bit acquainted with '60s/'70s-era rock'n'roll, chances are you know who Marianne Faithfull and Jim Morrison are. Faithfull, of course, is the ex-girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, his frequent collaborator, and the artist behind 1979's Broken English album. Morrison, on the other hand, was the frontman of The Doors until his death in 1971 of what's thought to be an overdose. Mystery has always clouded Morrison's demise, though: He was found dead in the bathtub of his Paris apartment at the young age of 27 (inducting him into that morbid '27' club) but an autopsy was never performed because police didn't suspect foul play — the only details of his death have been from the accounts of those close to him, who claim he died from taking too much heroin. This, however, could turn the entire story upside down: According to Marianne Faithfull, Jim Morrison was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on that 1971 day in Paris.
She revealed the story in a recent interview with Mojo magazine. In it, she says that she doesn't like London because last time she was there, a journalist straight-up asked her if she killed Jim Morrison — and then she added that her response was that she didn't, but she "[knows] who did."
The story goes back to the summer of 1971, when she travelled to Paris with her then-boyfriend, heroin dealer to the stars Jean de Breiteuil. Upon their arrival Breiteuil told Faithfull that he had to pay a visit to The Doors’ singer’s apartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis. She says she felt a strange sense of foreboding and stayed behind at the couple’s hotel, knocking herself out with downers.
“I could intuitively feel trouble,” she recalls. “I thought, I’ll take a few Tuinal and I won’t be there. And he went to see Jim Morrison and killed him. I mean I’m sure it was an accident. Poor bastard. The smack was too strong? Yeah. And he died. And I didn’t know anything about this. Anyway, everybody connected to the death of this poor guy is dead now. Except me.”
Morrison's death certificate, as there was no autopsy, states he was killed by "natural causes."
Apparently, as Us Weekly points out, de Breiteuil died of a heroin overdose the same year, so there's no telling how truthful this story really is. No one else associated with rock music around this time has commented on Faithfull's claims just yet, but truthfully, it doesn't really sound that farfetched not to believe — and if it's real, it is a huge deal. If de Breiteuil was involved, perhaps it wasn't an intentional murder, but being connected to Morrison's death still counts as some sort of manslaughter, and completely changes the story of how he died at such a young age.
Faithfull will be releasing her new album, Give My Love to London, next month.
