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‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Elm Street: Dream Warriors’ Composer Angelo Badalamenti Has Passed Away
A legendary, Emmy-nominated composer known for his work with David Lynch, we’ve learned the sad news this afternoon that Angelo Badalamenti has passed away at the age of 85.
Born on March 22, 1937 in New York City, Angelo Badalamenti earned three Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for the musical composition and main title theme music he contributed to David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” and Badalamenti also composed the scores for Lynch’s movies including Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Mulholland Drive.
In 1991, Badalamenti’s “Twin Peaks” theme won him a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, cementing its status as one of the all-time great TV themes.
With nearly 100 credits under his belt, Angelo Badalamenti also scored countless other movies including A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Wild at Heart, The City of Lost Children, Arlington Road, The Beach, Secretary, Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever, Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist, Dark Water, and The Wicker Man.
Angelo Badalamenti more recently reunited with David Lynch for “Twin Peaks: The Return,” which featured material from the original score along with brand new compositions.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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