Julee Cruise, ‘Twin Peaks’ Theme Song Singer, Dies at 65

Musician Julee Cruise, who was best known for her collaborations with filmmaker David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti, has died at the age of 65.

The news was broken today by Cruise’s husband, Edward Grinnan, who, according to Guardian, commemorated his late wife on Facebook, sharing, “She left this realm on her own terms. No regrets. She is at peace … I played her [B-52’s song] Roam during her transition. Now she will roam forever. Rest in peace, my love”. The singer-songwriter had been battling systemic lupus and the chronic pain it caused her to feel for the past several years.

Cruise first broke onto the scene collaborating with Badalamenti and Lynch to create the song “Mysteries of Love” for Lynch’s 1986 neo-noir mystery thriller film Blue Velvet, marking the beginning of what would become a successful, career-defining partnership. Some of the songs the three went on to create together helped to make up Cruise’s 1989 studio album, Floating into the Night, on which “Falling” appeared as the lead single. The instrumental version of the song became the theme music for Lynch’s cult classic mystery-drama series Twin Peaks and won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental. She also notably appeared on the series in a minor but impactful role as a roadhouse singer.

Cruise continued to be entangled with Twin Peaks for years, even after the show’s short-lived stint on ABC from 1990 to 1991. Songs from her second studio album, The Voice of Love, were featured in Lynch’s 1992 psychological horror film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and she also appeared in the closing credits of Twin Peaks‘ 2017 revival, Twin Peaks: The Return‘s penultimate episode to perform “The World Spins”.

Outside of her collaborations with Lynch and Badalamenti, Cruise is known for her 2002 and 2011 studio albums, The Art of Being a Girl and My Secret Life, as well as for performing off-Broadway in jukebox musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, touring on and off with The B-52’s as a stand-in for Cindy Wilson between 1992 and 1999, performing in Keith Haring’s 2004 bio-musical Radiant Baby, and singing “Falling” on a 1990 episode of Saturday Night Live.

Rest in peace, Julee Cruise. You and your voice will be missed.