Julee Cruise Dead: 'Twin Peaks' Singer Was 65

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• Julee Cruise, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks Singer, Dies at 65
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Her husband, author Edward Grinnan, confirmed to NPR that Cruise died by suicide, and had struggled with "lupus, depression and alcohol and drug addiction" in the past. “Into the Night,” “The Nightingale” and “The World Spins” also appeared in the series, in some cases in both lyrical and instrumental versions; they’re part of the fabric of its world, so to get to listen and revisit them separately deepens the nostalgia they elicit. They also showcase Badalamenti’s unique, sometimes odd-seeming personnel combinations, utilizing live drums to perform jazz rhythms, electric guitar and then synthesizers for everything from atmospherics to filters (or even replacements) for live instruments (the saxophone on “Rockin’ Back Inside My heart,” for example). Cruise’s husband Edward Grinnan announced Cruise’s death Friday on social media; no cause of death was provided, but she had recently been battling systemic lupus. Her death was announced on Facebook by husband, the author and editor Edward Grinnan. A cause of death was not disclosed, but Grinnan wrote, “She left this realm on her own terms.

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The track Falling, with its ominous electric guitar twangs, became a cult phenomenon after Lynch used an instrumental version of it as the theme for his groundbreaking TV show Twin Peaks in 1990. As Falling went to No 7 and No 11 in the UK and US singles charts respectively, Cruise, who was working as a waitress at the time, suddenly found celebrity thrust upon her, not least via an invitation to appear on the TV show Saturday Night Live. Her biggest hit was “Falling,” with music by “Twin Peaks” composer Angelo Badalamenti and lyrics by Lynch.

Julee Cruise, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks Singer, Dies at 65

She appeared as Janis Joplin in a production called “Beehive” prior to joining a theatrical workshop from Badalamenti. At the time, the composer was scoring Lynch’s postmodernist noir film “Blue Velvet.” Lynch intended to set a scene to This Mortal Coil’s spectral cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren,” but when the music rights proved too expensive, he asked Badalamenti to write an original song in a similar style. Badalamenti suggested Cruise as the singer for the resulting “Mysteries of Love,” which featured lyrics by Lynch. Julee Cruise, the singer best known for her collaborations with director David Lynch and The B-52s, died Thursday.

Taylor Swift’s new album is rife with breakup songs. Psychologists explain why we love them

“There’s always that voice that says, ‘It’s going to go away,’” she explained. “That voice can be very disturbing and destructive, and that voice is talking all through the album.” If Lynch’s work remains a confounding acquired taste for some, then Floating Into the Night is a record that anyone can at least understand. It is the sound of a burgeoning crush accompanied by the quickening realization of their power to hurt you; it is your hometown at night, with a familiar stillness so quiet it can keep you awake; it is the voice on the other line, distant and mysterious, but close enough so you can hear every breath. David Lynch paid tribute to his musical collaborator Julee Cruise following the news of the cult singer’s death at the age of 65.

"I just found out that the great Julee Cruise passed away," he said. "Very sad news. So, might be a good time to appreciate all the good music she made and remember her as being a great musician, great singer and a great human being." Cruise’s husband, Edward Grinnan, confirmed the news in a Facebook post Thursday night. But she took Lynch’s lyrics and direction and, carried by the gentle synthesizer rivers and doo-wop aesthetic of Badalamenti’s music, became an uber-earnest pixie who symbolized Lynch’s obsession with the pop art from his childhood. Another high-profile film collaboration came in 1991, when Cruise covered Elvis Presley’s Summer Kisses, Winter Tears for the soundtrack of Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World. Born in Iowa in 1956, Cruise began her collaborations with Lynch in 1986 for his film Blue Velvet, which prominently features her Badalamenti collaboration Mysteries of Love.

Who was Julee Cruise and what was her cause of death?

Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish. She was drawn to the arts at an early age, acting and playing the French horn while in high school. After graduating from Drake University, she spent time with the Des Moines Symphony but felt pulled toward the theatrical stage. Leaving behind the French horn, she then moved to Minneapolis, where she became part of the Guthrie Theater and, by the early 1980s, was a member of the Children’s Theatre Company. "Now she will roam forever. Rest In Peace, my love, and love to you all."

Julee Cruise: The Voice of Love Album Review - Pitchfork

Julee Cruise: The Voice of Love Album Review.

Posted: Wed, 15 Aug 2018 07:00:00 GMT [source]

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Her death after being diagnosed with systemic lupus preceded the December 2022 death of composer Angelo Badalamenti, a third and equally vital member of Cruise’s musical partnership with Lynch. Badalamenti composed the music for “Floating Into the Night” and Lynch the lyrics, creating a singular combination of girl-group doo-wop and gothic romance — the precise juxtaposition explored in Lynch’s work between small-town innocence and the mysterious secrets lurking beneath that wholesome veneer. The “Twin Peaks” theme “Falling” appears as the second track on the record, and her voice (absent from the broadcast version) sounds as much like Lynch’s fallen heroine Laura Palmer as the spirit of the mythical, virtuous White Lodge hidden in the eponymous Northwestern town’s arboreal enclave.

During the 1990s, Cruise often performed with the band, filling in for original co-vocalist Cindy Wilson when needed. Cruise's husband, Edward Grinnan, shared the news on Facebook, as first reported by The Guardian. Julee Cruise, the singer with the etherial voice who worked with director David Lynch on Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, died Thursday. Beyond those collaborations, she also toured with the B-52s, filling in for Cindy Wilson in the 1990s, and performed with Bobby McFerrin. "It was so much fun to be part of something that just went ba-boom!" she told the Los Angeles Times in 2017.

Alongside hip-hop beats and electronic treatments, her voice retained its ethereal mystique. That same year, Cruise performed the song on “Saturday Night Live,” filling in for Sinéad O’Connor, who backed out last minute in protest of the night’s guest host, Andrew Dice Clay. Cruise worked again with Lynch and Badalamenti for her 1993 album The Voice of Love, but after that she wouldn't release music again until The Art of Being a Girl (2002) and My Secret Life (2011). Those post-millennium albums, she said, were something of a reaction to time spent in what she called a "boy's club." The singer, who also often sang with the band B-52, was 65 years old.

In 1991, she covered Elvis Presley’s “Summer Kisses, Winter Tears” for the soundtrack of Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World. Her third album, The Art of Being a Girl, didn’t come out until 2002. Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released four albums beginning with 1989's Floating into the Night. This comes from four total studio albums, several stints in off-broadway shows, touring with the B-52s, and lending her voice to several other synth and electronic musicians. In the early 2000s, Cruise released her first album, for which she wrote all the lyrics and music herself.

"You didn't know it was going to do that. What a nice surprise life takes you on." Cruise first collaborated with Lynch after working as a talent scout for composer Angelo Badalamenti, who had been asked to work on the song Mysteries of Love for the Blue Velvet soundtrack. Musicians paying tribute included singer-songwriter John Grant, who said she was "one of the greatest". Cruise sang Falling from Lynch's 1990 drama, with the song reaching the top 10 in the UK singles chart. She majored in French horn performance at Drake University in Des Moines.

The core of the collaboration was the original songs Badalamenti and Lynch wrote for “Floating Into the Night,” Cruise’s 1989 debut album. Much of this music was featured in “Industrial Symphony No. 1,” a Lynch theatrical production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music featuring Cruise, but it found a much wider audience when it appeared in “Twin Peaks,” the surreal soap opera Lynch developed for network television. Other notable singles included "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart" (1990) and "If I Survive" (1999) by the band Hybrid, which featured her vocals. In the 1990s, she was a touring member of the B-52's, filling in for Cindy Wilson.[1] Cruise was also a stage actress and appeared in the off-Broadway musicals Return to the Forbidden Planet and Radiant Baby in 2004.[4] Her final album, My Secret Life, was released in 2011.

She is at peace.” Cruise disclosed in 2018 that she suffered from systemic lupus. She was launched into the spotlight through her partnership with the composer Angelo Badalamenti and the film director David Lynch, with whom she first worked on Lynch’s film Blue Velvet (1986). Lynch and Badalamenti conceived the song Mysteries of Love for the soundtrack when they were unable to afford the rights for This Mortal Coil’s version of Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren.

After graduating, she acted in children’s theater in Minneapolis. She moved to New York around 1983 and studied acting with William H. Macy. “I was a chorus girl with a big skirt and a big wig, singing way too loud,” she recalled in a 1990 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

As a recording artist, Cruise released four albums between 1989 and 2011. Her debut, “Floating Into the Night,” included “Falling,” which reached No. 11 on the U.S. Inspired, the trio worked together again on Floating into the Night, Cruise's solo debut. Released in 1989, the album includes songs from Blue Velvet and others that would be featured in Lynch's concert film Industrial Symphony No. 1 and, most famously, the early '90s touchstone Twin Peaks. "For those of you who go back I thought you might want to know that I said goodby to my wife, Julee Cruise, today," he wrote.

Her husband, author Edward Grinnan, confirmed to NPR that Cruise died by suicide and had struggled with "lupus, depression and alcohol and drug addiction" in the past. When David Lynch went on to create Twin Peaks, he used an instrumental version of her song, Floating, as its theme song. "She left this realm on her own terms," he wrote of his late wife. "No regrets. She is at peace. I played her [the B-52s song] Roam during her transition. Now she will roam forever. Rest In Peace, my love, and love to you all." "Having had such a varied music career she often said that the time she spent as a B, filling in for Cindy while she was having a family was the happiest time of her performing life." Cruise’s delicate vocals provided a dreamy, eerie counterpoint to the lush orchestrations of Angelo Badalamenti, the composer who was a collaborator of director Lynch.