Julee Cruise

About

Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released four albums and collaborated with a variety of other artists. Born on 1 December 1956, Cruise studied French horn at Drake University and performed as a singer and actress in New York, where she also worked as a talent scout for Angelo Badalamenti. In 1985, Badalamenti was composing the score for David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, as well as serving as the vocal coach for the film’s star, Isabella Rossellini. A key scene in Blue Velvet was intended to feature “Song of the Siren” by This Mortal Coil, but when the rights to the song proved prohibitively expensive, it was suggested that Badalamenti compose a pop song in the same style, with lyrics written by Lynch. Because the song required a vocalist with a haunting, ethereal voice, Badalamenti recommended Julee Cruise, who had sung “like an angel” in a New York theater workshop that Badalamenti had produced. The result of their initial collaboration was “Mysteries of Love”, which figures pr…