Teresa Taylor — the American musician and actress known best as a drummer for Butthole Surfers — has died. Taylor's bandmates shared that the artist, also known as Teresa Nervosa, passed away from complications of lung disease. She was 60.
"Teresa Taylor passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease," Butthole Surfers shared. "She will live in our hearts forever. RIP, dear friend."
Born in Arlington, TX, Taylor grew up drumming in area high school marching bands alongside future bandmate King Coffey. She joined Butthole Surfers as the group's second drummer in 1983, shortly after the release of their debut self-titled EP.
Coffey shared a photo of Taylor "in attack mode" in tribute, calling his late bandmate "My favourite drummer of all time. My mentor, my friend, my sister from another mister."
"Teresa Taylor passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease," Butthole Surfers shared. "She will live in our hearts forever. RIP, dear friend."
Born in Arlington, TX, Taylor grew up drumming in area high school marching bands alongside future bandmate King Coffey. She joined Butthole Surfers as the group's second drummer in 1983, shortly after the release of their debut self-titled EP.
Coffey shared a photo of Taylor "in attack mode" in tribute, calling his late bandmate "My favourite drummer of all time. My mentor, my friend, my sister from another mister."
A member of Butthole Surfers' classic lineup, Taylor's playing can be heard on studio albums, including 1984 debut Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac, 1985's Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis, 1986's Rembrandt Pussyhorse, 1987's Locust Abortion Technician and 1988's Hairway to Steven.
Onstage, Taylor and Coffey would drum in unison on respective stand-up drum kits. You can catch a glimpse of the band's dual drummer setup in the clip below.
Of course, having two timekeepers wasn't the only thing that drew crowds to see Butthole Surfers live. As Taylor recalled in a 2002 interview, "[Singer Gibby Haynes] in those days would take condoms filled with coloured dye and put those in his pants so that at some point they would burst and it would look very bloody. He would change clothes onstage during the set a lot. Then he went and bought the first vocal effect and that was a big deal. We had strobe lights, $10 strobe lights, and then we bought a 16mm projector, because we started to make more money. Everything was invested back into the band, so we could have a better show, better sound. Later we got another projector and showed two 16mm films overlapping. The full-on shows would make people puke and scream and run out, that kind of thing. It was what we'd always wanted."
Taylor would depart Butthole Surfers in 1989 after experiencing light-induced seizures that led to her diagnoses with a brain aneurysm. She recalled in 2022, "When the neurologist asked me if I had ever been exposed to a lot of flashing lights, I had to laugh and say, 'You'll never even imagine, in your wildest dreams, the shit I've flashed.'"
In 1991, Taylor landed a role in Richard Linklater's Slacker. Credited as "Pap smear pusher," Taylor plays a woman trying to sell a pap smear she claims belongs to Madonna. Dressed in a hat and sunglasses, her character went on to appear on Slacker posters, T-shirts and home video releases of the film.
Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival, and in 2012, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
"I don't get recognized. Nobody recognizes my face," Taylor told Salon in 2006. "But when I'm in public, and I'm going off on something, people will be, 'Are you the chick from Slacker?' But it's always because I'm ranting and raving about something."
Taylor shared news of her "end stage lung disease" on social media in 2021, writing, "I don't have cancer or any harsh treatments. I know I smoked like a chimney and this is to be expected. My spirits are up."
Onstage, Taylor and Coffey would drum in unison on respective stand-up drum kits. You can catch a glimpse of the band's dual drummer setup in the clip below.
Of course, having two timekeepers wasn't the only thing that drew crowds to see Butthole Surfers live. As Taylor recalled in a 2002 interview, "[Singer Gibby Haynes] in those days would take condoms filled with coloured dye and put those in his pants so that at some point they would burst and it would look very bloody. He would change clothes onstage during the set a lot. Then he went and bought the first vocal effect and that was a big deal. We had strobe lights, $10 strobe lights, and then we bought a 16mm projector, because we started to make more money. Everything was invested back into the band, so we could have a better show, better sound. Later we got another projector and showed two 16mm films overlapping. The full-on shows would make people puke and scream and run out, that kind of thing. It was what we'd always wanted."
Taylor would depart Butthole Surfers in 1989 after experiencing light-induced seizures that led to her diagnoses with a brain aneurysm. She recalled in 2022, "When the neurologist asked me if I had ever been exposed to a lot of flashing lights, I had to laugh and say, 'You'll never even imagine, in your wildest dreams, the shit I've flashed.'"
In 1991, Taylor landed a role in Richard Linklater's Slacker. Credited as "Pap smear pusher," Taylor plays a woman trying to sell a pap smear she claims belongs to Madonna. Dressed in a hat and sunglasses, her character went on to appear on Slacker posters, T-shirts and home video releases of the film.
Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival, and in 2012, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
"I don't get recognized. Nobody recognizes my face," Taylor told Salon in 2006. "But when I'm in public, and I'm going off on something, people will be, 'Are you the chick from Slacker?' But it's always because I'm ranting and raving about something."
Taylor shared news of her "end stage lung disease" on social media in 2021, writing, "I don't have cancer or any harsh treatments. I know I smoked like a chimney and this is to be expected. My spirits are up."
