The Germs performing at Sala Boite in Madrid on December 18, 2009. Band members pictured, from left to right, are Lorna Doom, Don Bolles, Shane West and Pat Smear. Photo : Wikimedia Commons

Lorna Doom, bassist for the influential L.A. punk band Germs, has died.



The news was announced in a Facebook post by Germs drummer Don Bolles, who according to multiple outlets wrote in a comment that “she left this mortal coil today around 1.”


The original lineup of Germs existed for only four years between 1976 and 1980; it broke up after the suicide of lead singer Darby Crash. But its influence on the Los Angeles punk scene was indelible, and its members evolved from barely knowing how to play their instruments to holding sold-out shows at storied venues like the Roxy and Whisky a Go Go. The band was also featured alongside acts like Circle Jerks, Black Flag and Fear in The Decline of Western Civilization, an iconic punk documentary released in 1981 that prompted Los Angeles Chief of Police Daryl Gates to demand that it not be shown in the city again.



Doom, born Teresa Ryan, joined Crash, Bolles and guitarist Pat Smear to form Germs in 1976, releasing only one album, (GI), before they dispersed. They reformed in 2005 after Shane West—who not only starred alongside Mandy Moore A Walk to Remember, but also portrayed Crash in the 2007 biopic What We Do Is Secret—replaced Crash as the band’s lead singer. The new lineup, including West, toured until 2009.