From Nina Simon to Fyodor Bondarchuk
The passing of Angelo Badalamenti was reported by family members in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, where he died of natural causes on a Sunday surrounded by loved ones.
Born in Brooklyn in 1937 to Italian immigrant parents, Badalamenti grew up in a family with strong musical roots. His mother arrived in the United States from Sicily and his father hailed from the mainland of Italy. The family’s musical thread ran through the household, with his uncle playing the trumpet and his father running a local fish market.
As a teenager, Badalamenti played piano and horn in the Lafayette High School orchestra. He earned a full scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and later completed BA and MA degrees at the Manhattan School of Music in 1960.
After completing his studies, Badalamenti taught music to seventh graders at Dyker Heights High School in Brooklyn, guiding young minds in their fifth year of study. Over the decades, he worked with a vast array of singers spanning many genres, including Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Shirley Bassey, Patti Austin, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Liza Minnelli, the Pet Shop Boys, and Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries. In total, he contributed music to more than 70 films and television productions.
Badalamenti crafted memorable theme music for a number of high-profile projects, including the evocative soundscape of the television series Twin Peaks, Danny Boyle’s film The Beach, and Fyodor Bondarchuk’s epic Stalingrad. His orchestral writing for events reached a peak when his composition Theme of the Torch was performed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic opening ceremony, accompanying the archer’s fiery arrow as it lit the cauldron.
Recognition for his work arrived in the form of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Film Music Awards in 2008, followed by the Henry Mancini Award from ASCAP three years later, acknowledging his enduring impact on film and television music.
Around family life, Badalamenti cherished his wife Lonnie and daughter Danielle, whom he wed in 1968, as well as the musician’s nephew who shared in their creative journey.
Collaboration with Lynch
Badalamenti’s most celebrated collaboration was with director David Lynch, which began during the making of Blue Velvet. Initially brought on as a singing teacher for Isabella Rossellini, Badalamenti soon contributed beyond that role when a song rights issue led Lynch to co-create pieces with the composer. The result was the haunting piece Secrets of Love, born from a union of words and music.
In a contemporary reflection, Lynch described the partnership as a meeting of minds where mood and sound effects mattered more than technical musical knowledge. The two learned from each other about how sound could drive emotion and pacing on screen, with Badalamenti noting that Lynch’s visuals were deeply influenced by his music.
Badalamenti recalled how his tempo and phrasing guided the actors’ timing and dialogue, and how he often collaborated in real time, playing beside the keyboard as scenes were imagined. He described how much of Twin Peaks was crafted in a way that allowed the music to shape the scenes, sometimes without ever seeing a frame of the pilot first cut.
On set, he frequently played live music during filming to help actors settle into a mood that supported their performances. The partnership produced a series of enduring works in film and television, with Badalamenti earning nominations and awards for his contributions to Twin Peaks, including recognition for the series’ title theme and its soundtrack reception across many countries.
Beyond Twin Peaks, his collaborations extended to Lynch projects such as Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, where his scores helped define the cinematic tone. In a lighter moment, Badalamenti even appeared on screen in Mulholland Drive as a character associated with an espresso-fueled gangster in a cameo that underscored his versatile artistry.