The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics. The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967 (All Music Guide).

Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the first song on The Doors first album, and also their first single. It got some airplay on Los Angeles radio stations after their friends and fans kept requesting it. The original line in the chorus was "She gets high." Elektra records censored "high," making it sound like, "she get uuggh," but the "high" line can be heard in live versions.

Jim Morrison got some of the lyrics from John Rechy's 1963 book "City of Night." The guitar melody was inspired by Paul Butterfield's "Shake Your Money Maker." John Densmore added the knocking drum sound by hitting his drumstick sideways across the snare. This was one of 6 songs The Doors recorded for a demo on Aura Records while they were trying to get signed in 1965. Robbie Krieger was not yet with the group. The vocals are a mix of 2 of Morrison's takes.

In year 2000, the surviving members of The Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Weiland from The Stone Temple Pilots sang on this.

This was included on the Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate, with Scott Weiland on vocals. As John Densmore states in The Doors Box Set, the beat of this song was inspired by Brazilian Bossa Nova like Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim.

In The Doors Box Set, Ray Manzarek said Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the last song they played live. It was during the Isle of the Wight Festival in the summer of 1970. The festival occurred while Morrison was on trial in Miami, and the band got a special 5 days of recess to be in England and get back to US. "This was to be the first gig of an European tour just as Miami was to be the first gig of a 20-city US tour. We never got beyond the first date of either one," said Ray.

The Doors managed to turn out a series of successful albums and singles through 1971, when, upon the completion of L.A. Woman, Morrison decamped for Paris. He died there, apparently of a drug overdose. The three surviving Doors tried to carry on without him, but ultimately disbanded. Yet the Doors' music and Morrison's legend continued to fascinate succeeding generations of rock fans: In the mid-'80s, Morrison was as big a star as he'd been in the mid-'60s, and Elektra has sold numerous quantities of the Doors' original albums plus reissues and releases of live material over the years, while publishers have flooded bookstores with Doors and Morrison biographies. In 1991, director Oliver Stone made The Doors, a feature film about the group starring Val Kilmer as Morrison (All Music Guide).

On 12 of November 1970, The Doors made their last appearance with Jim Morrison, in New Orleans.