‘I will always miss him’

Chris Isaak shared an emotional tribute to David Lynch on Friday, a day after the legendary director died at the age of 78.

“I knew he was sick, but I hoped he could come back,” Isaak wrote X. “I feel lucky for all the time I got to spend with him, he was one of a kind. He was so smart, so creative, and he had a way of being very honest and direct that reminded me, how children say things…innocently without double talk or bumbling.”

Isaak has long been associated with Lynch, with several of his songs featured in his films, including Blue velvet and Wild at heart. While the better-known music video for Isaak’s “Wicked Game” was directed by Herb Ritts and famed supermodel Helena Christensen, Lynch included the track in Wild at heart and directed the song’s first video, which was commissioned for the film’s VHS release.

“I couldn’t get the money to make a video and David stepped in, directed and got the ball rolling,” Isaak wrote. “He was a friend when I needed one.”

After hearing the song further Wild at heart, Lee Chesnut, a fan of Lynch’s films and an Atlanta radio station’s music director, began playing the song, which would lead to the sleeper hit hitting number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.

“Visionary filmmaker David Lynch and Atlanta radio music director Lee Chesnut are an odd couple. But they have one thing in common,” the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1991 when the “Wicked Game” broke out. “Last fall, they were probably the only two people in America who thought Chris Isaak’s moody ‘Wicked Game’ was a hit song.”

Isaak himself also landed a role as Chester Desmond in Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me back in 1992. The singer ended his tribute on Friday with a story about when he presented Lynch with a paintball gun after he finished filming Fire Walk With Me.

“He took a few practice shots and someone bet him that he couldn’t hit a wall clock at the far end of the set. He suddenly became very serious, focused and BAM! Bullseye,” Isaak wrote. “I kind of carry the image of him focused and struck by a gaze. He was a great guy. I really liked him a lot. I think I’m always going to miss him. Nobody likes him.”

Isaak is one of many celebrities to pay tribute to Lynch after his death, with others including Stephen Spielberg, Nicholas Cage and Naomi Watts.