Singer-songwriter Rebekah Del Rio, who achieved cinematic immortality with her haunting performance of Llorando in David Lynch’s 2001 masterpiece Mulholland Drive, has died at her Los Angeles home aged 57.
Del Rio died on June 23, with the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office confirming her death. No cause of death has been revealed.
The singer’s nephew, Dan Coronado, announced the news on Facebook, writing: “Just found out my Tia Becky passed away, and we literally just saw her on Father’s Day.
“So grateful the kids got to hear her sing, and also that I didn’t listen to her and secretly recorded the moment.”
Rebekah Del Rio has died, her nephew has confirmed
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Del Rio’s mesmerising rendition of the Spanish-language version of Roy Orbison’s Crying became one of cinema’s most unforgettable musical moments.
Lynch first encountered Del Rio through their mutual CAA agent Brian Loucks in the mid-1990s. The singer was working under a country record deal in Nashville, which she had secured through her recording of Llorando.
Upon their meeting, Lynch asked Del Rio to perform the song and secretly recorded her.
This recording became the foundation for the pivotal Club Silencio scene in Mulholland Drive, which Lynch added whilst reworking his rejected ABC pilot into a feature film.
Rebekah Del Rio (left) was best known for her work with David Lynch
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The sequence marks a reality-shattering crescendo in Lynch’s film, with leads Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring bursting into tears whilst watching Del Rio’s performance.
Though the scene ends with Del Rio’s character collapsing, revealing she had been lip-syncing, the singer performed live for every take during filming.
Del Rio told IndieWire in 2022: “There were many takes. And with every take, I sang along, because I felt I had to produce that same feeling with the vibrato in my throat so the audience could see it.
“I also wanted the beautiful girls in the balcony, [the film’s stars] Laura Harring and Naomi Watts, to experience it live. They were present while I was doing my scene, so I sang to them.”
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The brief but memorable performance launched Del Rio’s film industry career. She was subsequently cast by writer-director Richard Kelly in his 2006 sci-fi dystopia Southland Tales, performing The Star-Spangled Banner during the film’s apocalyptic finale.
Her vocals also featured on the soundtracks for Sin City, Man on Fire and Streets of Legend.
Del Rio’s connection to Lynch endured throughout the filmmaker’s career.
She performed alongside Moby in Twin Peaks: The Return and joined touring performances of The Red Room Orchestra Plays the Music of Twin Peaks.
Rebekah Del Rio’s performance in Mulholland Drive became iconic
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Less than two weeks before her death, Del Rio performed live at a charity Mulholland Drive screening at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. Lynch himself died in January at age 78.
Born on 10 July 1967 in Chula Vista, California, Del Rio began performing in San Diego before relocating to Los Angeles.
Just learned that Rebekah Del Rio passed away a few days ago. RIP to an incredible voice pic.twitter.com/wvPM1ULDlm
— Billy Jarrett (@billyjarrettugh) June 27, 2025
She had a son, Phillip C. DeMars, in 1986, who died from cancer in 2009 aged 23.
In a 2022 Guardian interview, Del Rio reflected: “My voice lends itself to that sadness because I carry a lot of that grief inside.”
