Jim Morrison: Still Dead

The age of 27 is a weird one in rock n' roll history. Some of the biggest names in the genre passed on to the great gig in the sky after turning 27. Kurt Cobain was 27 when he took his own life. Jimi Hendrix was 27 when he overdosed in London. Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was 27 when he experienced 'death by misadventure.'

Jim Morrison, the frontman, vocalist and lyricist of 60s Los Angeles hedonists The Doors, also passed away at that unlikely age. Morrison was living in Paris at the time, and though no autopsy was performed, it's generally assumed that his heart failure - the official cause of death - was brought on when Morrison mistook heroin for cocaine and overdosed.

That is, of course, assuming that Morrison is dead. Like Elvis Presley, Morrison is the subject of countless theories that posit a death faked in order to escape the spotlight. Elvis you can understand; he was never going to not be the most famous man in America. Morrison, however, only had to release the caliber of material found on the posthumous An American Prayer and the anonymity he craved would have been his.

Why all the Morrison talk? Because yesterday would have been his 65th birthday. Any idea what would the Lizard King have looked like had he lived? Glad you asked! Thanks to researchers at Scotland's St. Andrews University, now we know. Using software designed to visually produce the effects of aging, we can now envision what Morrison may have looked like today. The process was developed to aid missing persons inquiries. And to see what Jim Morrison would have looked like. Below is Jim Morrison, American poet and senior citizen: