Julee Cruise | Artist
Julee Cruise was an American singer and actress born 1956 in Creston, Iowa. She was known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch, in particular themes to the Twin Peaks series. Before her career kicked off, Cruise studied French horn at Drake University and performed as a singer and actress with the Children's Theater Company. She then moved to New York City and played Janis Joplin in a revue called Beehive, coming into contact with the composer Angelo Badalamenti. Badalamenti was writing the score for David Lynch's Blue Velvet and, for a key scene, intended to use This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" with lead vocal by Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins. When it proved prohibitively expensive to use the song, Badalamenti and Lynch wrote an original piece and enlisted Cruise to provide a haunting, ethereal vocal treatment. The result of their collaboration was "Mysteries of Love", which figures prominently in Blue Velvet's closing scenes and gained a cult following. Badalamenti and Lynch went on to write and produce additional songs for Cruise, which featured in her debut album Floating into the Night (1989). Her next project was the soundtrack to Lynch's Twin Peaks, for which Badalamenti composed the original score. The song "Falling", the orchestral theme for the TV series, caused a minor sensation, winning a Grammy at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1991 for Best Pop Instrumental. The Twin Peaks soundtrack, featuring Cruise on the songs "Into the Night" and "The Nightingale" as well as on the vocal version of "Falling", eventually went gold in the US. Cruise also made a number of appearances on Twin Peaks as a roadhouse singer at a local bar. She reprised the role in the 1992 movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (which also featured her music), and the 2017 revival series Twin Peaks: The Return. Cruise's third album The Art of Being a Girl was released in 2002, featuring her own compositions. In 2011, she released her fourth album My Secret Life, a collaboration with DJ Dmitry, formerly of Deee-Lite. The album contained an excellent cover of Donovan's "Season of the Witch." Over the next five years Cruise performed in numerous stage productions, plus she toured with The B-52's as Cindy Wilson's touring stand-in on and off from 1992-99. She also engaged in a musical collaborations with artists such as Moby, DJ Dmitry, German post-rock act Pluramon, and New York band Time of Orchids. Tragically Cruise's career was cut short when in March 2018, she announced on her Facebook page that she had systemic lupus, which caused her considerable pain and affected her ability to walk and stand. Cruise eventually died on June 9, 2022, aged 65. Her death was a suicide by suffocation, brought on by her debilitating and irreversible illnes. Her husband, Edward Grinnan, said that she "left this realm on her own terms. No regrets. She is at peace.. I played her the B-52's song 'Roam' during her transition. Now she will roam forever". Julie Cruise is remembered for her hauntingly beautiful voice and the alluring, mysterious mix of dream pop, jazz, and romance of '50s and '60s pop of her music, which influenced dream pop for years to come.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Julee_Cruise
Featured Albums: Julee Cruise
Related Artists: Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch, B-52's
Collections: Women of Note
