Ray Manzarek, keyboard player of the Doors passes away aged 74

When people thing of the pop group The Doors they always think of Jim Morrison, the charismatic lead singer but just as integral to the unique sound of the 60’s group was the keyboard playing of group member Ray Manzarek who passed away yesterday.

Born 12/02/39 in Chicago, he was a Sun Aquarian with a Sagittarian Moon conjunct to Mars hidden away in the 12th house trine to Saturn in his 3rd house of communication; Ray would have been a guy who wanted to give out a message through his work acting from behind the scenes. I can imagine he was more than a little irritable to be hidden away and not be more prominent, but his was a role in playing the keyboards and producing the melodies to the songs that was ultimately vital to the success of the band.

His Sun and Mercury in the second house often is seen as a place where you use your creative communicative talents in a public role and this Mercury made a tense square to Uranus sitting in his 5th house of personal creativity and entertainment, this was a uniquely talented guy with a wicked sense of humour and a special way of communicating through the medium of the entertainment’s industry.

The key to this chart however was a peregrine Neptune in Virgo unconnected by major aspect to any other planet. This Neptune dominates the chart and indicates high inspiration and technical musical ability. In the 9th house quindecile to Jupiter, that ability would bring him riches and international travel and fame.