Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek dies at 74

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the 1960s rock group The Doors, whose versatile and haunting keyboards complemented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died at 74.

Manzarek died on Monday in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. She said the musician's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek had died after being stricken with bile duct cancer.

The Doors' original line-up, which also included drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger, stayed together for only a few years and they made only six studio albums. But the band has retained a large and obsessive following decades after Morrison's death, in 1971. The Doors sold more than 100 million records and songs such as Light My Fire and Riders on the Storm are still classic rock favorites.

Manzarek's spidery organ playing on Light My Fire is one of the most instantly recognisable sounds in rock history.

But he seemed to find the right touch for a wide range of songs: the sleepy, lounge-style keyboards on Riders on the Storm; liquid strains for The Crystal Ship; barrelhouse romps on Roadhouse Blues.

The Doors always considered themselves more than a rock band and Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger often managed a rapport that blended rock, blues and jazz behind Morrison's self-consciously poetic lyrics.