Teresa Taylor was a drummer for Butthole Surfers, an influential underground rock band out of Texas, best known for their wild experiments and their crossover hit, “Pepper.”
- Died: June 18, 2023 (Who else died on June 18?)
- Details of death: Died of lung disease at the age of 60.
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Teresa Taylor’s legacy
Sometimes performing as Teresa Nervosa, Taylor was a drummer for the influential, often weird Texas rock band Butthole Surfers. Born in Arlington, Texas, Taylor was a marching band drummer in high school alongside founding member King Coffey, who drafted her to join the group in 1983. The band became known for the sensory assault of their chaotic live shows, willingness to experiment with noise, and general disregard for being accepted in mainstream music.
Taylor and Coffey drummed alongside one another from 1983 to 1989, both often using standup drum kits. Thanks in part to this loud combo, the band became legends of the local live scene. Taylor was forced to leave the band in 1989, however, when a brain aneurysm caused her to have seizures during the group’s intense strobe light displays. She had brain surgery in 1993.
In 1990, she cemented herself into the counterculture consciousness another way when she appeared in director Richard Linklater’s indie darling, “Slacker.” Her small role as a woman trying to sell a Madonna pap smear is one of the film’s best-known scenes.
Taylor would go on to work at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, while occasionally playing and recording with Butthole Surfers founder Gibby Haynes at his home studio. She rejoined the band in 2008 and 2009 for a tour of the “classic lineup” before again retiring from music. In 2021, she announced that she had been diagnosed with end stage lung disease.
Notable quote
“It’s a Madonna pap smear”—from a scene in “Slacker”
Tributes to Teresa Taylor
Full obituary: Deadline
