Bobby Prince, composer of Doom’s iconic soundtrack, dies at 81
Bobby Prince, the composer behind the heavy-metal inspired scores for Doom and Doom II—whose Doom soundtrack was chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress this year—has died at 81, his family confirmed.
Robert Caskin “Bobby” Prince III, the composer behind the iconic soundtracks for Doom and Doom II, has died at the age of 81, his family confirmed. Prince served as a platoon leader in the Vietnam War before moving into counselling, law and then video game music. He began composing for games in the early 1990s and frequently collaborated with id Software and Apogee Software. His credits include Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad and multiple Commander Keen episodes, but he was best known for Doom’s frantic, heavy metal–inspired score. Prince said he worked from the Doom Bible design document rather than in-house with the id team: “What helped the most with the sound in Doom was the Doom Bible that Tom Hall compiled... Within a few months of receiving that document, I had roughed out a lot of music and most of what turned out to be final sound effects.”
