On Wednesday, David Lynch, the avant-garde artist, musician, and director best known for Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, passed away. He was 78 years old.
Words fail to encapsulate the sheer breadth and depth of his creative legacy, to say nothing of his impact on generations of artists who grew up influenced by him and his work . Lynch was, at once, inimitable and endlessly imitated; an artist who cast his unflinching gaze to the darkest corners and impulses of American life, yet he remained resolute in his belief in humanity’s capacity for good.
He was, and remains, one of the most idiosyncratic creators of his lifetime, a sagely and mercurial personality with a wry sense of humor and unflappably earnest commitment to what he so lovingly referred to as “The Art Life.”
In the wake of the news of Lynch’s death, the internet has seen an outpouring of love and remembrances from friends, colleagues, and admirers of his nearly 60-year-long career. We’ve pulled together a collection of some of our favorite tributes, memories, and celebrations of Lynch and his art. Feel free to chime off in the comments and share some of your favorite Lynchisms.
And if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again.
Kyle MacLachlan, actor
Naomi Watts, actor
Mädchen Amick, actor
John Carpenter, director
Edgar Wright, director
What can be said about David Lynch that hasn’t already been captured in countless tributes by fans and filmmakers? A director of singular vision, defined by his magical style and fascinating ambiguities. Though his work is one of a kind, he has inspired many to pick up a camera.… pic.twitter.com/j8dIqr7lBG
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) January 17, 2025
Francis Ford Coppola, director
Darren Aronofsky, director
for david: i remember watching a print of #Eraserhead on 16mm in college. it changed how i approached environmental sounds even room tone in every film i ever made. i skipped classes in high school to take a train into manhattan to catch the first showing of lynch’s #Dune. i…
— darren aronofsky (@DarrenAronofsky) January 17, 2025
Ron Howard, director
Jane Schoenbrun, director
Like Kafka, like Bacon, he dedicated his life to opening a portal. He was the first to show me another world, a beautiful one of love and danger I sensed but had never seen outside sleep. Thank you David your gift will reverberate for the rest of my life. https://t.co/pK2GDycV1Y
— Jane Schoenbrun (@sapphicspielbrg) January 16, 2025
James Gunn, director and CEO of DC Studios
Sam Lake, creative director of Remedy Entertainment
Hideo Kojima, founder of Kojima Productions
SWERY, director of Deadly Premonition
Open Mike Eagle, rapper and comedian
Flying Lotus, musician and director
Don Hertzfeldt, animator and director
david lynch was an artist in every sense of the word. his work reshaped cinema in more ways than one and taught me to trust the process. blue skies and golden sunshine, all along the way pic.twitter.com/QtygFdP1Ov
— don hertzfeldt (@donhertzfeldt) January 16, 2025
Tim Heidecker, comedian and director
Naoki Urasawa, mangaka
“Thank you, David Lynch, for all the great works I love. I’m reposting a drawing I did a while ago. RIP”
Martin Scorsese, director
Martin Scorsese pays tribute to David Lynch.
“He put images on the screen unlike anything that I or anybody else had ever seen – he made everything strange, uncanny, revelatory and new. And he was absolutely uncompromising, from start to finish. We were lucky to have had David… pic.twitter.com/kgzRsXT8RK
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) January 17, 2025
The way his art made people feel something in ways they hadn’t before
That one time David Lynch made a ceramic art cow
The critical vindication of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
How lovely it is that Lynch got to see the critical turnaround of his most fiercely denounced work I think a lot about the roundtable he did with the Palmer family actors in and out of character and how the latter you got to hear them all take joy in FWWM being reclaimed and championed
— Jake Cole (@jakecole.bsky.social) 2025-01-16T21:05:49.042Z
How much he loved It’s a Wonderful Life
His friendship with Mel Brooks
David Lynch – A huge and sad loss. A remarkably unique and very talented filmmaker. It was such a truly great pleasure to work with him. If his name was in the credits, you knew the film was really worth seeing. I will miss him.
— Mel Brooks (@MelBrooks) January 16, 2025
That time he “rescued” — and had a falling out with — five Woody Woodpecker toys
The wellspring of empathy and love he had for people and for art
For me, the deeply and explicitly human capacity to make art is one of the things that keeps me going when things are dark and seem hopeless. That we have the ability to create beauty out of the darkness of the world makes me feel joy and hope. David Lynch’s work reminds me of this.
— Sophie Bee (@pogform.bsky.social) 2025-01-16T22:44:02.955Z
How much he loved music
His championing of the power of mystery
How much the theatrical experience meant to him
The resounding wisdom of his final on-screen performance as John Ford in The Fablemans
The way he was always unapologetically himself, and inspired others to be
The way he believed that nothing really ends
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