Los Angeles’ Morrison Hotel, Made Famous By The Doors, Gutted By Fire
The legendary Morrison Hotel, made famous by The Doors‘ 1970 album of the same name, was destroyed by a fire on Thursday (Boxing Day) 26 December. The four-story structure in downtown Los Angeles had technically been vacant for more than a decade, although it is believed several dozen squatters were occupying the 110-year-old building.
Buy The Doors vinyl and CDs at the Dig! store.
The massive blaze burned for roughly two hours until it was brought under control by more than 100 firefighters. Most of the people who were in the building exited safely on their own, while three people were rescued via fire escapes. There were no reported injuries.
Morrison Hotel was the fifth album released by The Doors, and includes some of the band’s very best songs such as Roadhouse Blues” and Peace Frog. The cover artwork features frontman Jim Morrison and company inside the hotel, looking out the lobby window, as photographed by Henry Diltz.
“It was a flophouse charging $2.50 for rooms, which was dirt cheap, even back then,” Robby Krieger recalled in his memoir Set The Night On Fire: Living, Dying & Playing Guitar With The Doors. “When we went down there with photographer Henry Diltz to shoot the cover, the desk clerk wouldn’t let us take any photos in the lobby. We resigned ourselves to posing outside on the sidewalk, but when the desk clerk left his post, Henry told us to run inside and pose by the window, and he quickly knocked out a few shots before the clerk came back. We had our album cover.”
When reached for comment about the fire, Henry Diltz told CBS News Los Angeles that he was “very sad” to hear the news, adding, “I hope somebody will rebuild it.”
The building was purchased in 2022 by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, with plans to transform it into affordable housing. Fire officials will now determine if the structure is salvageable.
Buy The Doors vinyl and CDs at the Dig! store.