Angelo Badalamenti, Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet composer, dies aged 85

Composer Angelo Badalamenti, best known for writing scores for director David Lynch’s TV and film greats such as Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, has died.

The classically-trained Grammy winner died at his home in New Jersey in the US. He was 85.

Badalamenti created famously haunting and ethereal music accompaniment to many works by Lynch including Wild at Heart, Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive.

He also appeared on-screen as the coffee-loving gangster Luigi Castigliane in Mulholland Drive, and played piano with Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet.

A statement from his family said: “The composer, loving husband, father and grandfather passed away on 11 December… peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by his family.”

Badalamenti’s break came when he was brought in to be Rossellini’s singing coach for the song Blue Velvet in the 1986 movie of the same name.

After scoring a variety of mainstream films, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Badalamenti once again collaborated with Lynch on the cult TV show, Twin Peaks. It fast became the score he was best known for, and one that defined the style and mood of the show.

Throughout his long career, he collaborated with an eclectic mix of singers in virtually 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.

Badalamenti, who was born in New York, won a Grammy in 1990 for best pop instrumental performance for the Two Peaks theme.

He received a lifetime achievement award at the 2008 World Soundtrack Awards, and the prestigious Henry Mancini award in 2011, which was presented to him by Lynch.