Doors' founding member loses battle with cancer

The Doors' founding member Ray Manzarek has passed away.

The legendary musician was at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany when he lost his long battle with bile duct cancer yesterday at the age of 74.

In an announcement on their Facebook page, the band revealed he was surrounded by his wife Dorothy Manzarek, and his brothers Rick and James Manzarek.

The Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger revealed he was "deeply saddened" by the news and will "always miss" his long-time friend and collaborator.

He said: "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today.

"I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."

The keyboardist founded the 'Light My Fire' hitmakers after a chance meeting with Jim Morrison in 1965 and they would go on to be one of the most iconic bands of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide.

Ray is survived by Dorothy, Rick, James, his son Pablo Manzarek, Pablo's wife Sharmin and their three children Noah, Apollo and Camille.