Singer. Born Jan Paul Beahm, Darby had a troubled childhood. When he was 11 years old, his eldest brother Bobby Lucas died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27, thought to have been murdered by a disgruntled drug dealer who intentionally sold him an unusually potent batch of the drug. He grew up believing that his biological father was a man named Harold, who had left the family early on in his life. When he was a teenager, one of his older sisters revealed in an argument that his biological father was actually a Swedish sailor named William Björklund. Darby lived with his mother Faith Reynolds-Baker for much of his life, but their relationship was not a healthy one. Darby attended IPS (Innovative Program School), an alternative school within University High School in Los Angeles. The IPS program combined elements of est large group awareness training and Scientology. He did not take the IPS program seriously, as students in the IPS program were given the liberty to form their own classes, Darby and fellow student George Ruthenberg (Pat Smear) created a class for themselves called Fruit Eating in which they would go to a market, eat fruit for an hour, then return to school. Daily users of LSD at the time, he and Ruthenberg developed a following of other IPS students who would also use the drug. The two were accused of brainwashing the other students and causing them to behave subversively, which led to the dismissal of Darby and Ruthenberg from the school in 1976. Darby formed The Germs with Pat Smear (guitar) and Lorna Doom (bass). Darby sang lead. The Germs became known around Los Angeles for their chaotic shows. The group released one single when Darby was alive in 1977. A fine example of the Germs' unforgettable stage act can be sampled in the 1981 Penelope Spheeris-directed documentary The Decline of Western Civilization. The Germs became one of the frontrunners of the emerging L.A. punk scene which also included such other acts as Black Flag, Circle Jerks, X, and Fear, as their one and only album, 1979's (GI), became an underground hit. However, the intake of heroin by Darby had reached deathly proportions just as the band's recording career began, and he split from the group to visit England for an extended period in 1980. When he returned, he wanted an attempt at fronting his own band, the short-lived Darby Crash Band, this proved to be a disaster, a one-off Germs reunion was booked for December 3, 1980, at the Starwood in L.A.