Robby Krieger defined the psychedelic sound of The Doors by eschewing a guitar pick and incorporating flamenco-style fingerpicking into rock music. Born on January 8, 1946, in Los Angeles, he grew up in a musical family and studied classical guitar before discovering flamenco and blues. He joined The Doors in 1965 after meeting Ray Manzarek and John Densmore through a Maharishi Mahesh Yogi meditation class. Krieger's compositional contribution to The Doors is often overshadowed by Jim Morrison's mystique, but he wrote or co-wrote many of the band's most important songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly." "Light My Fire" introduced a sophisticated jazz-inflected structure to the pop charts, with Krieger's extended guitar solo and Manzarek's organ break creating a template for psychedelic improvisation within a radio-friendly format. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and became one of the defining recordings of the era. Krieger's guitar style was unlike anyone else's in rock. His bottleneck slide playing drew from Delta blues, his melodic lines from Indian classical music, and his rhythmic approach from flamenco. He played without a pick, using his fingers to produce a warmer, more nuanced tone that complemented Morrison's baritone and Manzarek's keyboard bass. After Morrison's death in 1971, Krieger and Manzarek continued performing as The Doors for two more albums before disbanding. Krieger later played with various jazz and blues groups and released solo albums. His memoir, "Set the Night on Fire," published in 2021, offered a candid account of the band's creative process and the chaos that surrounded Morrison. He remains one of rock's most distinctive and underappreciated guitarists.