Obituary: Famed Composer Angelo Badalamenti Dies at 85

By Francisco Salazar

Composer Angelo Badalamenti has died at the age of 85.

In a statement, the family confirmed the composer’s death stating “the family of composer Angelo Badalamenti, best known for his work with Director David Lynch (“Twin Peaks,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Blue Velvet”) confirms that the Composer, loving husband, father, and grandfather passed away on December 11th, 2022, peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by his family.”

Born on March 22, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, he began taking piano lessons at age eight, and in his teens he earned a summer job accompanying singers at resorts in the Catskill Mountains due to his skills on the piano.

After high school, he went to Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester and later transferred to the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in 1959. He began composing music pieces in Kurt Weill’s style but later began scoring films and TV.

Badalamenti scored films such as “Gordon’s War,” and “Law and Disorder” but broke out for a song he wrote for “Blue Velvet”

That would begin a collaboration between the famed filmmaker and Badalamenti. He was most famous for his work on “Twin Peaks” as well as “Wild at Heart,” “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” “Lost Highway,” “The Straight Story,” “Mulholland Drive,” and “Rabbits.”

He also scored the films “Naked in New York,” “The City of Lost Children,” “A Very Long Engagement,” “The Wicker Man,” “Dark Water,” and “Secretary,” among many others.

Badalamenti received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Soundtrack Awards on October 18, 2008 in Ghent, Belgium and on July 23, 2011, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers presented Badalamenti with the Henry Mancini Award for his accomplishments in film and television music.

In 2017, when “Twin Peaks” was revived, Badalamenti teamed up with David Lynch and continued the fruitful relationship they had.

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