Ray Manzarek

Ray grew up on the South side of Chicago, and took piano lessons from local teachers

He was originally planning to be a basketball player while in High School, but after an argument about what position he would play, he quit the team and left basketball behind. He says he may never had been in The Doors had he had gotten onto the team and pursued his love of Basketball.

Ray co-founded THE DOORS with Jim Morrison during a chance meeting on Venice Beach in California. Morrison told Manzarek that he had written some songs, and after Manzarek heard and liked them, they decided to get together to form a musical partnership.

He met the future guitarist and drummer for his band while at a Transcendental Meditation lecture