The Doors performed at Stony Brook University in the men’s gym Saturday, Sept. 23, 1967. The venue was sold out beyond capacity with over 3,000 college students.

Just two days later, Sept. 25, 1967, their second album, Stranger Days, was released nationwide. The band originally formed in 1965 and started by playing at bar mitzvahs, weddings and fraternity parties. They were signed by Billy James of Columbia records, but in 1966, they asked to be released from their contract.

In 1967, two months before they played for Stony Brook, their song “Light My Fire” reached the No. 1 spot.  The band’s popularity had just began to peak when they visited Stony Brook and their album went gold during that month. By November of 1967, the band had become mainstream news. Lead singer Jim Morrison appeared on Vogue and both Time and Newsweek ran articles on The Doors.

The rock band continued on to make numerous top ten albums which were Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), Absolutely Live (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971). Altogether, they received 19 gold, 14 platinum and five multi-platinum album awards in the United States alone. Although The Doors’ active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted.

According to the RIAA, they have sold 32.5 million certified units in the US alone. The band has sold 100 million albums worldwide.  Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger continue to tour as Manzarek-Krieger, performing Doors songs exclusively. They were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold LPs. Three of the band’s studio albums, The Doors , Strange Days, and L.A. Woman, were featured in the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at positions 42, 407 and 362 respectively. In 1993, The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.