Teresa Taylor, Butthole Surfers drummer and Slacker actor, dies at 60

Teresa Taylor, former Butthole Surfers drummer and infamous Madonna merch peddler in Richard Linklater's 1990 film Slacker, has died. She was 60.

The punk musician's death was announced by her bandmates in a social media statement shared on Monday. "Teresa Taylor passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease," they wrote. "She will live in our hearts forever. RIP, dear friend."

Taylor previously revealed in a November 2021 Facebook post that she had "end stage lung disease" with a life expectancy of "one to five" years. "I know I smoked like a chimney and this is to be expected," she wrote. "My spirits are up."

Also known as Teresa Nervosa, Taylor was one of two active drummers for the Butthole Surfers from 1983 until 1989, performing at a stand-up drum kit alongside fellow drummer King Coffey. The pair's bombastic performances can be heard on a host of the band's records including 1984's Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac, 1986's Rembrandt Pussyhorse, 1987's Locust Abortion Technician, and 1988's Hairway to Steven.

In 1989, Taylor left the band and was diagnosed with an aneurysm after she began experiencing light-induced seizures. She later underwent brain surgery and, two decades later, returned to perform with Butthole Surfers once again in 2009.

In addition to her music career, Taylor is also known for her role as a woman attempting to sell Madonna's pap smear in Slacker. The notorious scene was often featured on the film's posters and the artwork of its physical releases.

"When I finished my scene, about a week later, I had a sort of breakdown where I decided that I had humiliated myself so publicly, I even considered going to their house and getting my reel; [they had] forgotten to get a release [from me]," Taylor recalled about the scene in Salon's oral history of the film in 2006. She ultimately changed her mind, noting, "I didn't want the movie to come out and me not to have done my bit. So I signed."

Gibby Haynes, lead singer of Butthole Surfers, remembered his late bandmate in an Instagram post on Monday. "In days of old when nights were bold," he wrote, "see you when I see you sweetheart."

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