Angelo Badalamenti, Legendary Film Composer, Dies Aged 85

Angelo Badalamenti, whose evocative compositions soundtracked David Lynch’s biggest films, has died in his New Jersey home, aged 85. His niece, Frances Badalamenti, told The Hollywood Reporter that the composer died surrounded by his family on Sunday, 11th December.

Badalamenti first worked with Lynch on his 1986 coming-of-age neo-noir film, Blue Velvet, before the pair embarked upon a long-standing and fruitful collaborative relationship. Badalamenti went on to compose music for many Lynch projects, including the television series Twin Peaks and the films Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive.

Angelo Badalamenti on Writing Laura Palmer’s Theme

In the above video, Badalamenti reflects on the creative process of working with Lynch while writing the music for Twin Peaks. In his recollection, the two sat together at an old Rhodes piano and Badalamenti improvised while Lynch fed him images.  “David would say, ‘OK Angelo, we’re in a dark woods, and there’s a soft wind blowing through some sycamore trees. And there’s a moon out.’”

He continues – doing an excellent Lynch impersonation – “Then [Lynch] would say, ‘OK Angelo, now we gotta make a change, because from behind a tree in the back of the woods there’s this very lonely girl, her name is Laura Palmer and… it’s very sad.’”

Badalamenti then improvised the score as Lynch continued to feed him images. “David got up, he gave me a big hug, he said ‘Angelo, that’s Twin Peaks.’”