Angelo Badalamenti

Angelo Badalamenti was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a Sicilian fishmonger, and studied classical composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. In 1986, he was hired as a vocal coach for Isabella Rossellini on David Lynch's neo-noir Blue Velvet. When Lynch couldn't license a song, Badalamenti composed "Mysteries of Love" with Lynch providing lyrics, beginning one of modern cinema's most magical director-composer collaborations.

Badalamenti's hypnotic synthesized Fender Rhodes chords, minor-key swells, and saxophone jazz created the unforgettable sonic atmosphere for Lynch's cult television series Twin Peaks (1990). His "Twin Peaks Theme" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, while "Laura Palmer's Theme" became an indelible cultural touchstone. He also scored Mulholland Drive, Wild at Heart, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's The City of Lost Children, and arranged music for David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Nina Simone.