10 Musicians Who Committed Real Crimes, Did Real Time - And Had Real Impact

Arthur Lee was the frontman, bandleader and main man in trailblazing '60s rock group Love. They had hits such as Seven And Seven Is, She Comes In Colors and Alone Again Or - which was later covered by artists as disparate as UFO, Calexico, Sarah Brightman and The Damned. Not only that, but Lee can be credited in large part with the discovery of The Doors after he persuaded Jac Holzman, who ran their label Elektra, to see Jim Morrison’s band in 1966.

Morrison himself was a huge fan of Love, and Lee in particular, but even as The Doors became more and more famous, Love fell apart thanks to a combination of drugs and excess, as well as Lee’s overbearing behaviour. The band fractured, as did most of the members, with guitarist/vocalist Bryan McLean eventually eschewing drugs in favour of the church and drummer Michael Stuart changing his name in order to disappear, while lead guitarist Johnny Echols and bass player Ken Forssi incredibly began robbing doughnut stands with a water pistol.

Lee himself, meanwhile, never again hit the heights of his early career and by the 1990s he found himself in hot water more than once. Arrests for drug possession and a confrontation with an ex-girlfriend were followed by imprisonment and a sentence of 11 years for illegal possession of a firearm – and for firing said weapon into the air during an argument with a neighbour. Although Lee maintained his innocence, saying someone else had fired the gun, he still served six years before the charge for firing the weapon was reversed on grounds of misconduct by the prosecutor. With the sentence for possession now served he was released in 2001.

He later toured with a new version of Love, including Johnny Echols, but passed away from leukaemia in 2006. Nonetheless, his influence on the history of popular music has not waned, with The Doors as popular as ever and Love’s defining third album, Forever Changes, regularly cited amongst the top rock albums of the 20th century.