David Lynch pays tribute to Julee Cruise

Singer Julee Cruise just passed away at age 65, and her music is most associated with David Lynch, who collaborated on songs with her and composer Angelo Badalamenti for Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks (including its iconic theme song, “Falling”), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and on two albums — 1989’s Falling Into the Night and 1993’s The Voice of Love. Lynch, who does daily Weather Reports on his YouTube channel, posted a special tribute devoted to Julee.

Lynch, who is laconic in general, was clearly broken up and at a loss for words. “I just found out that the great Julee Cruise passed away,” he said. “Might be a good time to appreciate all the good music she made and remember her as being a great musician, a great singer and a great human being.” He ends by just saying her name again, and letting the camera roll for a few more sad seconds after that. You can watch that below.

As for appreciating Cruise’s music, you can watch Cruise in “Industrial Symphony n° 1,” a 1989 avant garde musical theatre performance that was created by Lynch and staged twice at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The concert, conducted by Badalamenti, featured Cruise singing five songs from Floating Into the Night, including “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart” which was also used in Twin Peaks. The performance, which is full-on Lynch weird, also features Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, who had just filmed Lynch’s Wild at Heart, and Michael J Anderson, who played the backwards-talking Man From Another Place in Twin Peaks. Watch that and a documentary below.

You can also watch the video for “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart,” which Lynch directed, and a making-of documentary about Floating Into the Night, below.