PARIS (AP) — Police have found a bust of Jim Morrison that was stolen nearly four decades ago from the Paris grave that has long been a place of pilgrimage for fans of the legendary Doors singer and poet.
The bust taken in 1988 from Père-Lachaise cemetery was found during an unrelated investigation conducted by a financial anti-corruption unit, Paris police said in an Instagram post Monday.
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FILE- This Sept. 7, 1971 file photo shows the grave of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the rock group "The Doors," at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette,File)
FILE - Fans gather at the tomb of rock singer Jim Morrison at the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, Saturday, July 3, 2021. Fans across Europe gathered at the grave of rock legend Jim Morrison to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.(AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE- This Sept. 7, 1971 file photo shows the grave of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the rock group "The Doors," at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette,File)
FILE - Flowers and candles adorn the grave of legendary rock front man and poet with the Doors rock band, Jim Morrison at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris Monday July. 3, 2011. Morrison, the legendary singer of the rock band died in Paris on July, 2, 1971. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)
There was no immediate word on whether the bust would be returned to the grave or what other investigation might take place.
Morrison, the singer of Doors classics including “Light My Fire,” “Break on Through,” and “The End,” was found dead in a Paris bathtub at age 27 in 1971.
He was buried at Père-Lachaise, the city's cemetery that is the final resting place of scores of artists, writers and other cultural luminaries including Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein and Edith Piaf.
The 300-pound bust made by Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin was added to the grave in 1981 for the 10th anniversary of the singer's death.
“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,” Paris tour guide Jade Jezzini told The Associated Press. “The amount of people who would rush in here just to see the bust to take pictures of it, it would be incredible.”
Known for his dark lyrics, wavy locks, leather pants, theatrical stage presence and mystical manner, Morrison has inspired generations of acolytes who congregate at his grave to reflect and sometimes to party, including a major gathering for the 50th anniversary of his death. The site has often been covered with flowers, poetic graffiti and liquor bottles left in tribute.
He was undergoing a cultural renaissance when the bust was stolen in the late 1980s, which peaked with the 1991 Oliver Stone film “The Doors,” in which Val Kilmer, who died in April, played Morrison.
London artist Sam Burcher recently returned to the now more subdued grave site that she first visited 40 years ago when the sculpture of Morrison was still in place.
“The bust was much smaller than all of these grand tombs. It was very modest, so I was quite surprised by that,” she told 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.”
Morrison cofounded the Doors in Los Angeles in 1965 with Ray Manzarek. Robby Krieger and John Densmore joined soon after.
The band and its frontman burned brightly but briefly, releasing albums including “The Doors” “Strange Days," and “Morrison Hotel, whose The California site that gave that album its name and cover image was seriously damaged in a fire last year.
After their final album, 1971’s “L.A. Woman,” Morrison moved to Paris. His cause of death was listed as heart failure, though no autopsy was performed as none was required by law. Disputes and myths have surrounded the death and added to his mystique.
FILE- This Sept. 7, 1971 file photo shows the grave of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the rock group "The Doors," at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette,File)
FILE - Fans gather at the tomb of rock singer Jim Morrison at the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, Saturday, July 3, 2021. Fans across Europe gathered at the grave of rock legend Jim Morrison to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.(AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE- This Sept. 7, 1971 file photo shows the grave of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the rock group "The Doors," at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette,File)
FILE - Flowers and candles adorn the grave of legendary rock front man and poet with the Doors rock band, Jim Morrison at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris Monday July. 3, 2011. Morrison, the legendary singer of the rock band died in Paris on July, 2, 1971. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
