Darby Crash
Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk rock vocalist who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk rock band the Germs. He committed suicide by overdosing on heroin.
Darby Crash | |
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Darby Crash in April 1980 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jan Paul Beahm |
| Also known as | Bobby Pyn |
| Born | September 26, 1958 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 7, 1980 (aged 22) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1975–1980 |
In the years since his suicide at the age of 22, the Germs have attained legendary status among punk rock fans and musicians alike, as well as from the wider alternative rock and underground music community in general. Crash has come to be revered as a unique and talented songwriter; his myriad literary, musical and philosophical influences, which varied from Friedrich Nietzsche and David Bowie to Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler, resulted in lyrics that were unusually wordy and impressionistic in the realm of punk rock at the time, immediately setting Crash and his band apart from most of other Los Angeles punk groups that sprang up in the late 1970s.