Angelo Badalamenti, the famed ‘Twin Peaks’ composer, dies aged 85
Angelo Badalamenti, the iconic composer best known for his work on the Mark Frost and David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks, has died aged 85. The news was confirmed by members of Badalamenti’s family members on Monday, August 12th.
“My great uncle Angelo Badalamenti has crossed the barrier onto another plane of existence,” a statement reads. “Between his work on Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Cabin Fever, Nightmare On Elm Street 3 and a plethora of others, plus his relationships and collaborations with David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Nina Simone, Julee Cruise, Isabella Rosselini, Dolores O’Riordan, Anthrax, Dokken, Eli Roth and especially David Lynch, he has always been the most interesting man in the world to me”.
The statement adds: “A true musical and artistic inspiration for me and countless others. Stayed true to his roots and family, never leaving North Jersey for LA. Not to mention the casual but mind blowing true stories from his life he never ran out of. He will truly be missed by many”.
Badalamenti, who received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his Twin Peaks theme in 1990, was one of David Lynch’s closest collaborators, working with the surrealist director on projects such as Wild at Heart, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet and more. However, it is his work on Twin Peaks that will be forever etched into the memories of his biggest supporters.
Undoubtedly one of the most iconic TV series of all time, Twin Peaks transformed the possibility of small-screen storytelling, unravelling a bizarre fictional mystery that involved the tragic death of a young woman named Laura Palmer. Devastated by the shocking crime, the town falls into a state of paralysis, with characters feeling like lost spirits wandering through the wilderness as a strange malevolent force shrouds the town with dark mystery.
While the story-telling changed the landscape of TV, it was the mysterious score by composer Angelo Badalamenti, who also wrote the show’s influential opening ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’, that imbued the series with a tangible sense of enigma. Tinged with a wistful melancholy, Badalamenti’s music would help establish Lynch’s series in the realms of surrealism.
“David got up and gave me a big hug, he said, ‘Angelo, that’s Twin Peaks,’” the composer once said when recalling the moment he created the famed music. Speaking in a way in which the words of Lynch leap into vivid existence, Badalamenti continued in his recollection, adding: “I said, ‘OK David, I’ll go home, and I’ll work on it’. He said, ‘Angelo, Don’t do a thing, and don’t change a single note. I see Twin Peaks”. It is that memory alone that shows the fascinating relationship between two of contemporary cinema’s greatest minds.
While we wait for comment from Lynch on the news, during his recent Weather Report video, the director hinted at the death of his “brother” by stating: “Today… no music.”
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