NYMPHS Singer INGER LORRE Dead At 61

NYMPHS frontwoman Inger Lorre has died at the age of 61.

The news of the singer's passing was confirmed in a statement released by her label, Kitten Robot Records.

"We are saddened to say goodbye to our beloved friend and artist Inger Lorre," the label wrote. "Inger, born Lori Ann Wening, passed on October 16 from complications due to recently diagnosed cancer. Her mother, Lois Wening, had also passed on October 4; both are confirmed by Jen Wening, Inger's sister.

"Inger was an accomplished singer, songwriter, recording artist, painter and a lover of animals. A singularly unique artist, both visually and musically, Inger first came to national attention with her band NYMPHS, whose self-titled LP was released by Geffen Records in 1991.

"Her career as a solo artist began with 'Transcendental Medication' released by Triple X in 1999. Kitten Robot released her final album, 'Gloryland', just last year.

"Our condolences go out to Jen and her family and to her many friends and fans."

Often seen as a musician's musician, Inger has worked with the likes of Iggy Pop, Jeff Buckley and Henry Rollins; her notoriety has frequently eclipsed her darkly beautiful music.

Inger's legacy remains haunted by the infamy of a band (the NYMPHS) that burned brightly all too briefly before imploding in a devastation of bereavement and misguided record company dealings.

In 1991, Inger famously climbed up on the desk of A&R man Tom Zutaut, hitched up her skirt and pissed on the paperwork and personal effects laid out on it. She later told LA Weekly that she felt Zutaut had been playing mind games for months, he'd put her first album on hold and hadn't allowed her to play for two years, and she was spiraling down in a depression that was both soothed and seduced by drugs. "So one day, I got really, really drunk," she recounted, "and I said to Jeff, our guitar player, 'You know, he's such a fucker. I should just walk in there and piss on his desk.' Jeff laughed — and I hadn't seen him laugh in months, we were so depressed. He said, 'You'd be my hero if you did.' So I drank a lot of beer and got totally inebriated so I would have the guts and a lot of pee in me… So when Zutaut said, 'Okay, send her in,' I was just like, fuck this, and I jumped up on his desk and was like, 'You fucked me over, you fucked my band, you're a fucker, how dare you keep me on hold,' and I pissed on his Rolodex, his phone, the photo of his wife, everything. But instead of screaming at me, he started to cry."

Her cult following remains loyal. While her releases are scarce, they are cherished. Infamous '80s new wave musician Josie Cotton signed Lorre to her boutique label, Kitten Robot Records.

Jeff Buckley once called Inger Lorre the "patron saint of fucked over musicians."

Photo credit: Yuko Ishii (courtesy of Reybee, Inc.)