R.I.P. Germs bassist Lorna Doom

Lorna Doom, bassist for the highly influential L.A. punk band Germs, has died. The news arrived in a Wednesday Facebook post from bandmate Don Bolles, who wrote, “She left this mortal coil today [Wednesday] around 1.” A cause of death is currently unknown.

Doom, who was born Teresa Ryan, joined the band in the mid-‘70s, when it consisted of vocalist Jan Paul Beahm (Darby Crash), guitarist Georg Ruthenberg (Pat Smear), and drummer Belinda Carlisle, who would go on to become the lead singer of the Go-Go’s. After Carlisle’s departure, the Germs recruited Bolles and, in 1979, released their lone album, the Joan Jett-produced (GI). It was just a year later that Crash took his own life at the age of 22, leading to the band’s breakup.

Their legacy lived on, however, thanks not just to their enduring influence but also the band’s presence in Penelope Spheeris’ 1981 punk documentary The Decline Of Western Civilization. Following the release of 2007's What We Do Is Secret, a biopic about Crash and the band’s short run, Doom, Smear, and Bolles linked up with the film’s star, Shane West, for a handful of concerts.

Carlisle released a statement about Doom’s passing on Thursday. “Yesterday I lost a part of me, my best friend in high school and partner in crime in the early punk scene,” she wrote. “#LornaDoom or Teresa passed away…. she was a visionary and a trail blazer. She never compromised. RIP, Terry. I’m sure you can feel the love.”