The posthumous album An American Prayer was released in 1978. Elektra issued the album on November 17, 1978, several years after Jim Morrison's death and after The Doors had officially broken up.
The record combines Morrison's spoken-word poetry with newly recorded instrumental backing by the surviving Doors—Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore. Morrison had recorded much of the poetry in 1969 and 1970, while the band members created the accompanying music in 1978. The result is part poetry album, part rock record, and part studio collage.
An American Prayer was marketed as a Jim Morrison album with music by The Doors. It became the band's ninth and final studio album and was the only Doors release nominated for a Grammy in the Spoken Word category. Its reception was mixed, partly because critics and longtime collaborators disagreed about whether the new music reflected Morrison's original intentions.