Bobby Prince, Composer of the Original DOOM Soundtrack, Has Died
Bobby Prince — the musician behind some of the game world’s most instantly recognizable tracks — died on June 17 at 81, his family announced. He was the author of the soundtrack for the original DOOM.
Robert Kaskin "Bobby" Prince III followed a winding route: military service as a platoon commander in Vietnam, a career in law and consulting, then — around the early ’90s — a switch to composing for video games. He began working with id Software and Apogee Software after music went from hobby to side gig (e.g., early shareware commissions) and never quite stopped.
Across the 1990s he wrote pieces for Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, and entries in Commander Keen. Still, most people associate his name with DOOM and DOOM II — those riffs tend to linger in one’s head long after the credits roll.
Recognition arrived in a formal way recently: in May 2026 the DOOM soundtrack was added to the National Recording Registry at the U.S. Library of Congress, cited as an audio recording with notable cultural, historical, and artistic value deserving preservation.
News of his death prompted many responses from people who worked with him. John Romero, a colleague on DOOM, said the team at Romero Games felt deep sorrow and highlighted how much Prince’s music shaped their projects and, personally, his own life.
RIP Bobby Prince. He was 81 years old and passed on Tuesday.
I received a DM from Joe Siegler last night with a link to Bobby's obituary (it is linked here): https://t.co/SaBDXOM6ui
Bobby was the epitome of a southern gentleman. Residing in Tennessee he had a smooth southern… pic.twitter.com/lOH9Duv5yJ
— George Broussard (@georgebsocial) June 19, 2026
George Broussard, who helped start Apogee and 3D Realms, called Prince “the epitome of a southern gentleman” and remembered how the composer would drop by the studio to soak in the team’s atmosphere — not merely to hand over tracks but to feel the game as it was being made. Broussard compared his output to that of major film composers in terms of sheer productivity and stuck-in-your-head melodies, noting that Prince had turned a pastime into a second life, away from the practice of law.
Bobby was an incredibly prolific author. Looking back at all his legacy, for the early shareware game era, he was a kind of Hans Zimmer. And all this was possible thanks to his immense love for music and video games, which were just beginning to gain popularity back then. For him, it was a passion that started as a hobby and a complete opposite to working as a lawyer.
His influence is eternal, and he was a true legend for three decades. His works continue to live, and we will deeply miss him. George Broussard