angelo badalamenti Archives

Angelo Badalamenti, who composed music for some of director David Lynch's most iconic works, died of natural causes yesterday (Dec. 11) at his home in Lincoln Park, N.J. He was 85. Best known for his moody, evocative compositions in Lynch's Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive, Badalamenti was a classically trained musician who also worked with artists such Shirley Bassey, Pet Shop Boys, Nina Simone, Paul McCartney, Liza Minnelli, James' Tim Booth, and David Bowie. In addition, he wrote the theme music for the 1992 summer Olympics in Barcelona and for Bravo's long-running interview series Inside the Actors Studio. Lynch initially drafted Badalamenti to serve as a vocal coach for actress Isabella Rossellini on the set of the 1986 movie Blue Velvet, and the composer then recruited Julee Cruise to sing the film's torch song, "Mysteries of Love." Cruise would go on to work with Lynch and Badalamenti on the acclaimed, Fender Rhodes-generated music for Twin Peaks, which ran on ABC from 1990-91. From then on, Lynch and Badalamenti were virtually inseparable as collaborators, working together on music for 1990's Wild at Heart, the 1992 Twin Peaks feature film Fire Walk With Me, 1997's Lost Highway, 1999's The Straight Story, and 2001's Mulholland Drive, the latter of which featured Badalamenti in an on-screen role as a menacing gangster named Luigi Castigliane. A line of his dialog ("This is the girl") figures prominently in the film's plot. Badalamenti won a best pop instrumental performance Grammy for his Twin Peaks theme as well as the 2011 Henry Mancini Award from ASCAP. He worked with Lynch on several non-film projects, including a jazz album recorded in the early '90s but not released until 2018, Thought Gang, and two releases with Cruise, Floating Into the Night (1989) and The Voice of Love (1993). In recent years, Badalamenti's work was celebrated at several charity events curated by the David Lynch Foundation, including 2015's The Music of David Lynch at Los Angeles' Ace Hotel and the first edition of Festival of Disruption, held at the same venue in September 2016. Lynch has yet to directly address Badalamenti's passing, but appears to have honored his friend today in his daily YouTube weather report. Lynch normally describes what music he's listening to after reciting the current atmospheric conditions in Los Angeles, but in today's installment, he simply said, "today ... no music." "Tonight I will raise my glass to my beautiful friend, the Bad Angel, Angelo Badalamenti," Booth wrote on Twitter. "He taught me many things, but primarily, how to enjoy the recording process. We laughed from the beginning to the end of the record we made together. Never had a disagreement. I love him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?ve-eqgr_gn4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?vaVI-Jew-iHo

angelo badalamenti

Angelo Badalamenti, Longtime David Lynch Music Collaborator, Dies at 85

Watch the 1992 Video David Lynch Shot for His Thought Gang Collaboration With Angelo Badalamenti

David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti Announce Release of ’90s Collaborative LP Thought Gang

Please Enjoy This Sugar Ray Cover of Brian Eno and John Cale’s “Spinning Away”

Huge Box Set of Every Nightmare on Elm Street Score Coming This Month

Listen to Flying Lotus’ Glitchy Remix of the Twin Peaks Theme

Listen to the Roots Cover the Twin Peaks Theme on Fallon

A Vinyl Reissue of the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Soundtrack is Imminent

IMPACT

Melissa Etheridge: ‘What Are We Gonna Do About the Gay Thing?’

Pussy-Positive Oogie-Powered Hitchhiking Hip-Hopping Orgy Serenader Comes Out of the Rabbit Hole: It’s Audley Time

Killer Mike Is Keynote Masterblaster for FIRE’s Launch as National Free Speech Defender

Lost on Boogie Mountain: How the Bee Gees’ Kid Brother, Andy Gibb, Hit the Peak of Pop Only to Die of a Coke-Broke Heart

more from spin

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Dave Vanian of The Damned

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon: Track By Track

Lana Del Rey Is Unapologetic On Sexy and Spiritual Under Ocean Blvd

Get New Music, News, Reviews, And More Delivered Right To Your Inbox.