# Robby Krieger
**Robby Krieger** (Robert Alan Krieger, born 1946 in Los Angeles) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band the Doors, for which he wrote or co-wrote the band's major hits, including "Light My Fire," "Touch Me," "Love Me Two Times," and "Love Her Madly."[1](https://robbykrieger.com/) • [2](https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/robby-krieger) • [3](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman) After Morrison's death he pursued a solo career informed by jazz fusion and continues to record and tour.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Alan Krieger, 1946, Los Angeles; attended UCLA[1](https://robbykrieger.com/) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/news/robby-krieger-lets-it-slide/) |
| Role in the Doors | Founding guitarist and songwriter; wrote the music and words to the band's major hits including "Light My Fire," "Touch Me," "Love Me Two Times," and "Love Her Madly"[3](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman) |
| Biggest hit | "Light My Fire" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the seven-minute album version was cut to 2:52 for radio release[6](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/doors) • [7](https://riffmagazine.com/reviews/the-doors-robby-krieger-20260731/) |
| Signature sound | Flamenco-informed fingerstyle playing and bottleneck slide, drawing on Sabicas, Wes Montgomery, Mike Bloomfield, the Ventures' Nokie Edwards, Ravi Shankar, and Chuck Berry[3](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman) |
| Honors | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with the Doors, 1993; Grammy Hall of Fame inductions for the debut album, "Riders on the Storm," and "Light My Fire"[6](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/doors) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/news/robby-krieger-lets-it-slide/) |
| Recognition | Listed by Rolling Stone among its 100 greatest guitarists of all time[8](https://playingforchange.com/artists/robby-krieger) |
| Solo albums | *Robbie Krieger & Friends* (1977), *Versions* (1983), *Singularity* (2010), *The Ritual Begins at Sundown* (2020), *Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages* (2024)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991) |
| Memoir | *Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors*[9](https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/343781/new-memoir-by-the-doors-robby-krieger-sets-the-record-straight/) |
## Early life and musical beginnings
Krieger grew up in Los Angeles in a household with classical music on records; his father liked march music, and at about age seven Krieger's first musical enthusiasm was [Sergei Prokofiev](https://www.edgepedia.org/sergei-prokofiev)'s *Peter and the Wolf*, a record he broke by sitting on it.[1](https://robbykrieger.com/) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991) He studied trumpet at ten, played blues on the piano without lessons, and started playing guitar at seventeen on a friend's instrument; his first own guitar, bought at eighteen, was a Mexican flamenco model, and he took flamenco lessons for a few months before moving among folk, flamenco, blues, and rock.[1](https://robbykrieger.com/)
**Records drew him to the blues.** He has said that newer rock and roll, especially the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was what carried him into rock music: "If it hadn't been for Butterfield going electric, I probably wouldn't have gone rock 'n' roll."[1](https://robbykrieger.com/) Before the Doors, he was a student at the [University of California, Santa Barbara](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california-santa-barbara), where he studied psychology from 1964 to 1965 and taught flamenco guitar to children.[10](https://sites.engineering.ucsb.edu/~beltz/sb_article.pdf) He then attended UCLA, where he studied physics and Indian music and met drummer [John Densmore](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-densmore), keyboardist [Ray Manzarek](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-manzarek), and singer Jim Morrison.[5](https://www.grammy.com/news/robby-krieger-lets-it-slide/) He has described first meeting Densmore in a high-school jazz class.[11](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-doors-interview-2025)
## The Doors
Having built a reputation in the Los Angeles club circuit during 1966, the Doors landed a deal with [Elektra Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/elektra-records) and issued their first, self-named album in January 1967.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991) The band took its name from [Aldous Huxley](https://www.edgepedia.org/aldous-huxley)'s *The Doors of Perception*, after Morrison joined Manzarek's group Rick & The Ravens and suggested the change.[11](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-doors-interview-2025) Krieger described the band as a group of both musicians and poets who knew each other's art and could create the arrangements among themselves.[1](https://robbykrieger.com/)
His playing blended blues with flamenco and jazz; the [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame) describes the band's sound as a fusion of blues, jazz, and psychedelic rock anchored by Manzarek's organ, Densmore's rhythms, and Krieger's guitar.[6](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/doors) One retrospective counts him among the most underestimated guitarists of 1960s rock and credits him with writing the lion's share of the Doors' major hits, music and words alike.[3](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman) "Light My Fire" began as a folk song with folk-rock chords; Densmore added the Latin beat, and Manzarek composed the organ intro.[12](https://www.mmusicmag.com/features/No38/ROBBY-KRIEGER-No38.pdf) • [13](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/if-youre-going-to-become-one-of-the-immortals-a-god-then-you-have-to-die-thats-the-tragedy-the-epic-story-of-the-unsung-genius-behind-the-doors) The song hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, and to secure radio airplay it was reduced to 2 minutes 52 seconds by removing the mid-song instrumental section.[6](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/doors) • [7](https://riffmagazine.com/reviews/the-doors-robby-krieger-20260731/) Krieger also supplied the band's slide guitar, including some of the first slide guitar in rock music on "Moonlight Drive."[14](https://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2011_1_Jan.pdf)
After Morrison died in Paris in 1971, Manzarek, and at times Krieger, led the Doors on *Other Voices* (1971) and *[Full Circle](https://www.edgepedia.org/full-circle-the-doors-album)* (1972), and in 1978 the surviving Doors set music to Morrison's recorded poetry on *An American Prayer*.[13](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/if-youre-going-to-become-one-of-the-immortals-a-god-then-you-have-to-die-thats-the-tragedy-the-epic-story-of-the-unsung-genius-behind-the-doors) Krieger and Densmore then formed the Butts Band, whose achievements included recording some of the first reggae covers outside Jamaica, though it found little commercial acceptance.[15](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Modern-Recording/80s/Modern-Recording-1983-11.pdf)
## Solo career
After the Doors broke up in 1973, Krieger earned critical respect and a loyal following for solo recordings that leaned toward a jazzy, primarily instrumental approach: *Robbie Krieger & Friends* (1977) and *Versions* (1983), with 2024's *Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages* later adding R&B and soul influences.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991) Discographies disagree on the release year of *Versions*, which some list as 1982.[16](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/discography/robby-krieger) Later albums include *Singularity* (2010), promoted through a Grammy Museum appearance as his first solo album in ten years,[5](https://www.grammy.com/news/robby-krieger-lets-it-slide/) and *The Ritual Begins at Sundown*, released August 14, 2020, on Mascot Label Group; its cover art is one of his own paintings.[17](https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/collections/robby-krieger) • [18](https://www.musicwaves.org/frmReview.aspx?ID=18874&REF=ROBBY-KRIEGER_The-Ritual-Begins-At-Sundown)
**Return to the Doors' name.** In 2002 an incarnation of the band fronted by the Cult's singer [Ian Astbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-astbury) began touring with Manzarek and Krieger, and Densmore obtained an injunction barring them from performing under the name "The Doors of the 21st Century."[13](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/if-youre-going-to-become-one-of-the-immortals-a-god-then-you-have-to-die-thats-the-tragedy-the-epic-story-of-the-unsung-genius-behind-the-doors) • [23](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-26-et-quick26.3-story.html) In 2021 Krieger published his memoir, *Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors*, covering his story and the band's from his early years to Morrison's death and beyond.[9](https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/343781/new-memoir-by-the-doors-robby-krieger-sets-the-record-straight/)
## Style and equipment
Krieger's style draws on flamenco master Sabicas, jazz guitarist [Wes Montgomery](https://www.edgepedia.org/wes-montgomery), blues guitarist [Mike Bloomfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-bloomfield), the Ventures' Nokie Edwards, sitar player [Ravi Shankar](https://www.edgepedia.org/ravi-shankar), Chuck Berry, and the early 1960s folk and blues revival.[3](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman) He has described his approach in terms of restraint: "In the Doors' music there are a lot of silences. We weren't the type of band that had to fill up every little gap."[19](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/robby-krieger-in-the-doors-music-there-are-a-lot-of-silences-we-werent-the-type-of-band-that-had-to-fill-up-every-little-gap) His favored instrument is the Gibson SG; Gibson has issued a Custom model modeled on his 1967 SG.[20](https://guitarinternational.com/2011/03/08/robby-kriegerinterview-the-doors-gibson-guitars-and-jim-morrison/)
## Recent work
His current project, Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages, gives him room to work in jazz fusion, blues, and jam music.[21](https://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2026/sep/03/the-doors-guitarist-robby-krieger-visits-tuscany/) He continues to tour regularly; his 2026 schedule included the [Whisky a Go Go](https://www.edgepedia.org/whisky-a-go-go) in Los Angeles, the Mountain Winery in [Saratoga, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/saratoga-california), and the Copa Room in Las Vegas.[1](https://robbykrieger.com/) The Mountain Winery show was a nearly two-hour retrospective of Doors songs spanning blues on "Roadhouse Blues" to slide guitar on "L.A. Woman."[7](https://riffmagazine.com/reviews/the-doors-robby-krieger-20260731/) He also made an unannounced appearance at the Palisades Renewal Celebration, a community event supporting recovery from the Pacific Palisades wildfires, where he performed a set of the band's classic songs.[22](https://palisadesnews.com/doors-guitarist-robby-krieger-puts-on-surprise-performance-at-palisades-high-school/)
## References
1. [Robby Krieger, official site biography](https://robbykrieger.com/)
2. [Robby Krieger Oral History, NAMM.org](https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/robby-krieger)
3. [The Doors' Robby Krieger and John Densmore Unmask the Myths Behind 'L.A. Woman', GuitarPlayer](https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/the-doors-robby-krieger-john-densmore-la-woman)
4. [Robby Krieger Biography by Mark Deming, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robby-krieger-mn0000275991)
5. [Robby Krieger Lets It Slide, GRAMMY.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/robby-krieger-lets-it-slide/)
6. [The Doors, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/doors)
7. [Robby Krieger finds new paths through The Doors in the South Bay, RIFF Magazine](https://riffmagazine.com/reviews/the-doors-robby-krieger-20260731/)
8. [Robby Krieger, Playing For Change](https://playingforchange.com/artists/robby-krieger)
9. [New Memoir by the Doors' Robby Krieger Sets the Record Straight, Jewish Journal](https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/343781/new-memoir-by-the-doors-robby-krieger-sets-the-record-straight/)
10. [Movie Opens Up Past for Doors Guitarist, Santa Barbara News-Press via UCSB](https://sites.engineering.ucsb.edu/~beltz/sb_article.pdf)
11. [The Doors: Robby Krieger and John Densmore tell their wild story, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-doors-interview-2025)
12. [Robby Krieger Q&A, M Music & Musicians Magazine](https://www.mmusicmag.com/features/No38/ROBBY-KRIEGER-No38.pdf)
13. [The epic story of the unsung genius behind The Doors, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/if-youre-going-to-become-one-of-the-immortals-a-god-then-you-have-to-die-thats-the-tragedy-the-epic-story-of-the-unsung-genius-behind-the-doors)
14. [Robby Krieger feature, San Diego Troubadour](https://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2011_1_Jan.pdf)
15. [Robby Krieger feature, Modern Recording, November 1983](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Modern-Recording/80s/Modern-Recording-1983-11.pdf)
16. [Robby Krieger Discography, All About Jazz](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/discography/robby-krieger)
17. [Robby Krieger, Mascot Label Group store](https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/collections/robby-krieger)
18. [Robby Krieger: The Ritual Begins At Sundown review, Music Waves](https://www.musicwaves.org/frmReview.aspx?ID=18874&REF=ROBBY-KRIEGER_The-Ritual-Begins-At-Sundown)
19. [Robby Krieger: "In the Doors' music there are a lot of silences", Guitar World](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/robby-krieger-in-the-doors-music-there-are-a-lot-of-silences-we-werent-the-type-of-band-that-had-to-fill-up-every-little-gap)
20. [Robby Krieger Interview, Guitar International](https://guitarinternational.com/2011/03/08/robby-kriegerinterview-the-doors-gibson-guitars-and-jim-morrison/)
21. [The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger visits Tuscany, Las Vegas Weekly](https://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2026/sep/03/the-doors-guitarist-robby-krieger-visits-tuscany/)
22. [Doors Guitarist Robby Krieger Puts on Surprise Performance at Palisades High School, Palisades News](https://palisadesnews.com/doors-guitarist-robby-krieger-puts-on-surprise-performance-at-palisades-high-school/)
23. [Court enjoins Doors offshoot](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-26-et-quick26.3-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Rock, metal, and popular-band musicians › Psychedelic and acid rock*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license