Bloomington music legend dies at 53

The Bloomington music scene lost one of its greatest contributors when Tom Donohue passed away Wednesday from complications from liver cancer.\nHe would have been 54 next week.\nDonohue had been a staple of the Bloomington music scene for more than 25 years, working in several music stores, and finally settling as owner of TD's CDs & LPs on Kirkwood Avenue. He also organized concerts in the area, bringing many national acts such as The Flaming Lips to Bloomington.\nOriginally a series of benefit concerts running from Nov. 15 to 26 was planned for Donohue. They will still take place as memorial concerts, the first of which will feature local bands covering The Beatles.\nDonohue always made it a point to inform his customers of upcoming local shows that were otherwise ignored.\n"He was very supportive of local music," Donohue's longtime friend Rex Miller said. "He liked all types of music, and he would do anything he could to help out local bands."\nWFIU Public Radio announcer Joe Bourne said Donohue stayed committed to music long after most people would have moved on to other things.\n"He was there when he needed to be to support people in music," Bourne said. "Other people might not do that as they got older, but he did. He was a supremely fine person." \nDonohue never advertised much for his business, but instead sponsored as many local shows as possible in hopes of bringing people into the store. That and word of mouth gave TD's the reputation as "the place" for local music in Bloomington.\nMiller said through this commitment to the local scene, and music overall, Donohue made many friends, perhaps more than he will ever know.\n"He had a lot of friends," Miller said. "I'm not even sure he knew how many friends he had. There were a lot of people who really cared about him. He was truly a nice guy. He never had anything bad to say about anyone."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.