VOCAL LEGEND

‘Mulholland Drive’ Star Dies at 57 at Home in Los Angeles

Singer Rebekah Del Rio performed the memorable “Llorando” in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive.”

Singer-songwriter Rebekah Del Rio, who became a cinematic legend with her haunting performance of “Llorando” in the film Mulholland Drive, has died at her home in Los Angeles. She was 57. Del Rio had originally landed a country record deal in Nashville, Tennessee, with her recording of “Llorando”, a Spanish-language cover of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.” She was introduced to Mulholland Drive director David Lynch, who decided to use Del Rio’s performance in a pivotal scene that takes place in a night club. Del Rio later said in an interview that she performed every take live so the film’s stars Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, who watch her sing, could experience the song’s full emotion. The performance launched her film career, with her vocals later appearing in Southland Tales, Sin City, Man on Fire and Streets of Legend. She also performed alongside Moby in an episode of Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. Just two weeks before her death, she performed live at a charity event screening of Mulholland Drive. Her cause of her death remains unknown and comes 16 years after her son, Phillip C. DeMars, died of cancer in 2009 aged 23.