Julee Cruise, a singer best known for her work on David Lynch’s iconic series “Twin Peaks,” has died at 65.
Cruise’s husband Edward Grinnan confirmed the icon’s death in a touching Facebook tribute.
“She left this realm on her own terms,” the vocalist’s bereaved soul mate wrote. “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.”
Cruise’s cause of death was not given, the Guardian reported. However, in 2018, the singer announced on Facebook that she was battling systemic lupus, which left her in chronic pain.
“I can hardly walk,” she wrote in the heartbreaking post. “And now it’s difficult to stand. My spine is crumbling and pinching on nerves.”
“I don’t take opiates, but the pain is so bad I cry and snap at people,” the singer added. “I’ve had a glorious time… but I must leave here. Someone wise told me I must go, and so being a recluse, it’s law and boredom for me. Thanks so much for everything… That’s my final curtsy.”
Born Dec. 1, 1956, in Creston, Iowa, the songwriter is perhaps best known for her musical collaborations with director David Lynch. The auteur notably used the instrumental version of her 1989 hit “Falling,” written by Angelo Badalamenti, as the theme song to his iconic TV series “Twin Peaks.”
Along with her musical contributions, Cruise also played the part of a singer in both the ABC mystery show and its 1992 movie spin-off “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.” She would reprise the part in the 2017 Showtime revival “Twin Peaks: The Return.”
Cruise also collaborated with Lynch on the 1986 crime drama “Blue Velvet,” which features her Badalamenti collaboration “Mysteries of Love.”
The singer-actress had previously described her working relationship with Lynch in 2018, the Guardian reported. “It’s like I’m his little sister: You don’t like your older brother telling you what to do,” she said. “David’s foppish. He can have these tantrums sometimes.”
She continued, “And have you ever seen his temper? Anybody can look funny when they get mad. But I love him.”
Aside from her collaborations with the “Twin Peaks” visionary, Cruise is also known in the music sphere for touring as a member of the B-52s throughout the 1990s. She also released several albums, including “The Voice of Love” in 1993 — which featured three songs from “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” — as well as “The Art of Being a Girl” in 2002 and “My Secret Life” in 2011. And, in yet another epic director-songstress collaboration, Cruise covered Elvis Presley’s “Summer Kisses, Winter Tears” for the soundtrack to Wim Wenders’ “Until the End of the World.”
Describing her musical style in 1990, Cruise said: “Technically this music is so delicate that it’s a challenge just to sing it. But at the same time, it allows me to be more dramatic, more psychotic than if I were just singing ‘Oh, baby, baby’ into the microphone.”
“Certain things you can’t overact while you’re singing,” she added. “This, I can overact and get away with it. I can stylize it.”