American rock band the Butthole Surfers announced that drummer Teresa Taylor, also known as Teresa Nervosa, died ‘peacefully’ aged 60.
Taylor’s partner and the band announced her death on June 20 following a diagnosis of terminal lung disease.
‘Dear friends and loved ones of Teresa Taylor. I want to let you know the sad news. Teresa passed away clean and sober, peacefully in her sleep, this weekend,’ wrote partner Cheryl Curtice on Facebook.
‘She was so brave, even in the face of her horrible disease. We were all fortunate to have her beautiful, strong spirit in our lives.’
Taylor is best known for her time as one of the drummers for Buttlehole Surfers and she was a childhood friend of the other drummer, King Coffey.
Curtice added: ‘She will be forever missed. We will have a memorial service sometime in the future. I love you, beloved Teresa.’
‘Teresa Taylor passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease. She will live in our hearts forever. RIP, dear friend,’ wrote the band on their Twitter account.
With the message a picture of Taylor was shared, which included a cute dog asleep on her lap, called Mark Farner according to the band.
Famed for their hardcore punk rock music and dark comedy gigs, Butthole Surfers were named by Kurt Cobain as creating one of his favourite albums.
Taylor also starred in director Richard Linklater’s 1990 film, Slacker, in which she okayed a character called ‘Pap smear pusher’ who features on the poster.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Linklater described Taylor as ‘a badass drummer and totally unique character’.
‘Smart, funny, energetic – she meant so much to all who knew her. One of the greats.’
She was incredibly close to fellow drummer Coffey, referring to each other as siblings for their similar looks although they weren’t related by blood.
In 1989, shortly after leaving the band, Taylor suffered from a brain aneurysm and had to have brain surgery.
She also started to suffer from strobe light-induced seizures around this time.
Throughout the 90s, Taylor worked in a school for the visually impaired and had been working on a memoir about her time in the band.
Her time with Butthole Surfers wasn’t over though as she returned to tour with them in 2008, having been steadily recording music for years with the band’s lead singer Gibby Haynes.
In November 2021, Taylor announced that she had been diagnosed with end-stage lung disease, followed by a post the next year saying her death was ‘imminent’.
She added that she had ‘received a loving message from Paul’ and ‘spoke on the phone with King and Gibby’.
Taylor concluded her post with: ‘It’s all been a blast….Ciao.’
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