"Riders on the Storm" is a song by The Doors from their 1971 album, L.A. Woman. It reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 7 in the Netherlands.
According to band member Robby Krieger, it was inspired by the song "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend". Also, Jim Morrison mentions spree killer Billy Cook, in passing, during at least one interview. Cook killed six people, including a young family, while hitchhiking to California. In all likelihood, the Cook murders were inspiration for the song's lyric, "There's a killer on the road / His brain is squirming like a toad ... if you give this man a ride/sweet family will die ;..."
