During his lengthy career, Badalamenti collaborated with a wide variety of singers from practically every genre, including David Bowie, Nina Simone, Dame Shirley Bassey, Patti Austin, Sir Paul McCartney, Liza Minnelli, Roberta Flack, the Pet Shop Boys, and LL Cool J.
Angelo Badalamenti has passed away. He was best known for composing music for David Lynch’s television and film classics such as Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet.
The classically trained Grammy winner passed away at his New Jersey home. He was 85.
Badalamenti composed numerous works by David Lynch, including Wild at Heart, Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive, with haunting and otherworldly music.
In Mulholland Drive, he portrayed the coffee-loving criminal Luigi Castigliane, and in Blue Velvet, he played the piano with Isabella Rossellini.
According to a family statement, the composer, husband, father, and grandfather died peacefully of natural causes on December 11, surrounded by his family.
Badalamenti was hired as Rossellini’s voice coach for the song “Blue Velvet” in the 1986 film of the same name.
After scoring numerous popular films, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Badalamenti collaborated with Lynch once more on the cult television series Twin Peaks.
It quickly became his most well-known work and established the style and tone of the show.
Throughout his lengthy career, he worked with a variety of singers from practically every genre, including David Bowie, Nina Simone, Dame Shirley Bassey, Patti Austin, Sir Paul McCartney, Liza Minnelli, Roberta Flack, the Pet Shop Boys, and LL Cool J.
New York-born Badalamenti received a Grammy in 1990 for outstanding mainstream instrumental performance for the theme of Two Peaks.
He earned a lifetime achievement award at the 2008 World Soundtrack Awards, and David Lynch awarded him with the coveted Henry Mancini award in 2011.
