Angelo Badalamenti dead at 85, composer of “Twin Peaks” and “Blue Velvet”.

Angelo Badalamenti, the composer best known for his collaborations with David Lynch twin peaks (including the haunting, iconic theme of the ABC series) as well as many other projects, died Sunday at the age of 85.

A family member shared the news on Instagram, writing: “My great uncle Angelo Badalamenti has crossed the barrier to another plane of existence.

“Between his work on Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Cabin Fever, Nightmare On Elm Street 3 and a host 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 above all David Lynch, he’s always been the most interesting man in the world to me. A true musical and artistic inspiration for me and countless others. Staying true to his roots and family, he never left North Jersey for LA. Not to mention the casual but mind-blowing stories he never ran out of. He will truly be missed by many.”

Badalamenti at the David Lynch Foundation show “Change Begins Within” at Radio City Music Hall in April 2009 (Getty Images)

In fact, Badalamenti scored films like blue velvet (1986), A nightmare at 3 Elm Street (1987), Christmas holidays from National Lampoon (1989 – yes, really!) and Wild at heart (1990), before lending his talent to ABC’s twin peakswhere he worked with Lynch on the theme song “Falling” (sung by Julee Cruise) as well as numerous character-specific “themes” (like “Audrey’s Dance”).

Badalamenti’s film and TV credits also included the film prequel Twin Peaks: Firewalk With Me (1992), the theme for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, In the acting studio, Abandoned highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Showtime Twin Peaks: The Return Miniseries that aired in 2017.

Badalamenti’s work with Lynch continues twin peaks received three Emmy Award nominations in 1990 – for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music (although there was no winner in the category as no nominee received 50% approval of winning the judged award), Outstanding Music and Lyrics (which by Larry Grossman and won became Buz Kohan for NBC’s First International Festival of Very Special Arts) and Outstanding Score for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), which they lost to CBS’s Don Davis Beauty and the Beast.

However, the television series’ soundtrack earned Badalamenti a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Twin Peaks Theme.”

Also, Badalamentis score for Mulholland Drive earned him his second Golden Globe nomination.

Watch the video below to see how Lynch collaborated with Badalamenti on Laura Palmer’s Theme:

Angelo Badalamenti describes how he wrote Laura Palmer’s title for Twin Peaks pic.twitter.com/xnkKoAfE7c

— Amanda (@DuganAmanda) September 2, 2022