Lorna Doom (born Teresa Marie Ryan, January 4, 1958–January 16, 2019) was an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the punk rock band the Germs from 1976 to 1980, and again after they got back together from 2005 to 2009.

Early life

Doom grew up in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

, and attended

Newbury Park High School Newbury Park High School, founded in 1967, is a co-educational public high school located in Newbury Park, California. Academics The school is one of two International Baccalaureate schools in Ventura County, the other being Rio Mesa High School ...

, where she met

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

Career

Doom was a friend of Germs founders

Darby Crash Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk rock vocalist who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk ro ...

and

Pat Smear Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles-based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guitar ...

, and joined despite lack of musical ability, having answered a flyer looking for "two untalented girls" with Carlisle. She originally quit the band in 1980 after Crash fired

Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for ''The Arizona Republic'' who was known for his coverage of organized crime in the area, especially by the Chicago Outfit. His murder in a car bom ...

, the band's drummer. After Crash's death, Doom moved to New York City where she lived until the late 1990s. A movie based on the Germs, '' What We Do Is Secret'', was released in 2007, and in it, Doom was played by

Bijou Phillips Bijou Lilly Phillips Masterson (born April 1, 1980) is an American actress, model and singer. The daughter of musician John Phillips and Geneviève Waïte, she began her career as a model. Phillips made her singing debut with '' I'd Rather Ea ...

. The following year, the band received a star on the Guitar Center RockWalk, which she was present for.

Death and legacy

Doom died of breast cancer on January 16, 2019. Bassist

Kira Roessler Kira Roessler (born June 12, 1961) is an American musician and two-time Emmy Award-winning dialogue editor. She is best known as the bassist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been ...

spoke about Doom's contribution: "...she was an under-rated musician and, in my mind, quite a presence on the instrument. The Germs were a band that influenced far more people than ever heard them live, and I think Lorna's contribution lives on in that way." Guitarist

Greg Hetson Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American guitarist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in the Los Angeles area since he was 2 years old. Active since 1979, Hetson is best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore pu ...

recalled seeing her in the 1970s and says she proved "You can rock hard and you don't have to be a guy."

Laura Jane Grace Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against Me!, Grace fronts the band Laura ...

tweeted "I can still see the ‘Germs burn’ on my wrist from when I was 14 years old. Few bands had as big of an impact on me. Rest In Peace Lorna Doom."

Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

said, "I love Lorna Doom so much, I can't count the times I lay on the floor listening to her play, imagining her rocking out, laying it down in her inimitable way. I always wanted to meet her and never got to, but I feel a bond with her anyways. I admire her always and she is part of who I am. R.I.P. Broken through to the other side Lorna Doom."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doom, Lorna 1958 births 2019 deaths Women bass guitarists American punk rock bass guitarists Germs (band) members Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from breast cancer Women in punk