Jeff Buckley

Biography

Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a following in the early 1990s performing at venues in the East Village, Manhattan. He signed with Columbia and released his only studio album, Grace×Grace15 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Mojo Pin5:432Grace5:223Last Goodbye4:354Lilac Wine4:325So Real4:446Hallelujah6:537Lover, You Should’ve Come Over6:438Corpus Christi Carol2:579Eternal Life4:5310Dream Brother5:2511Forget Her5:13, in 1994. Buckley toured extensively to promote Grace, with concerts in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia.
In 1996, Buckley worked on his second album with the working title My Sweetheart the Drunk in New York City with Tom Verlaine as the producer. In February 1997, he resumed work after moving to Memphis, Tennessee. On May 29, while awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, Buckley drowned while swimming in the Wolf River, a tributary of the Mississippi. Posthumous releases include a collection of four-track demos and studio recordings for My Sweetheart the Drunk, and reissues of Grace and the Live at Sin-é EP.
After Buckley's death, his critical standing grew, and he has been cited as an influence by singers such as Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Matt Bellamy of Muse. Rolling Stone included Grace in three of its lists of the 500 greatest albums and named Buckley's version of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah×Hallelujah1995 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lover, You Should've Come Over (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)8:032So Real (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:393Last Goodbye (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)4:404What Will You Say (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)7:555Mojo Pin (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)6:556Eternal Life (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:367Kick Out the Jams (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)3:278Mojo Pin (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)6:239Grace (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)5:5310Last Goodbye (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)5:5111So Real (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)4:2912Lover, You Should've Come Over (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)7:48" one of the 500 greatest songs. In 2014, Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" was inducted into the American Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. In 2026, Buckley was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life

Born in Anaheim, California, Buckley was the only son of Mary (née Guibert) and the singer-songwriter Tim Buckley. His mother is a Zonian of Greek, English, French and Panamanian descent, while his father was the son of an Irish American father and an Italian American mother. Buckley was raised by his mother and stepfather, Ron Moorhead, in Southern California, and had a half-brother, Corey Moorhead. Buckley moved many times in and around Orange County while growing up, an upbringing he called "rootless trailer trash". As a child, Buckley was known as Scott "Scottie" Moorhead, based on his middle name and his stepfather's surname.
Buckley's biological father, Tim Buckley, released a series of folk and jazz albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Jeff said they met only once, when he was eight. After Tim died of a drug overdose in 1975, Jeff chose to go by Buckley and his given name, Jeff, which he found on his birth certificate. To members of his family he remained "Scottie".
Buckley was brought up around music; his mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist, and his stepfather introduced him to Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Pink Floyd at an early age. Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti was the first album he owned, and he said the hard rock band Kiss was an early favorite. He grew up singing around the house and in harmony with his mother, and said all his family sang. He began playing guitar at the age of five after discovering an acoustic guitar in his grandmother's closet. At age 12, he decided to become a musician and received his first electric guitar, a black Memphis Les Paul copy, at age 13. He attended Loara High School and played in the school jazz band; during this time, he developed an affinity for progressive rock bands Rush, Genesis, and Yes, and the jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. He was a fan of Joni Mitchell, the Smiths and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
After graduating from high school, Buckley moved to Hollywood to attend the Musicians Institute, completing a one-year course at age 19. Buckley later said the school was "the biggest waste of time", but said in another interview that he had appreciated studying music theory: "I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in Ravel, Ellington, Bartók."

Career

In Los Angeles, Buckley spent six years working in a hotel and playing guitar in various bands, playing in styles from jazz, reggae, and roots rock to heavy metal. He toured with the dancehall reggae artist Shinehead and played occasional funk and R&B studio sessions, collaborating with the fledgling producer Michael J. Clouse to form X-Factor Productions. From 1988 to 1989, Buckley played in a band, the Wild Blue Yonder, that included John Humphrey and future Tool member Danny Carey. Buckley limited his singing to backing vocals.
Buckley moved to New York City in February 1990 but found few opportunities to work as a musician. He was introduced to Qawwali, the Sufi devotional music of Pakistan, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of its best-known singers. Buckley was an impassioned fan of Khan, and during what he called his "café days", he often covered Khan's songs - he considered Khan his "Elvis" . In January 1996, he interviewed Khan for Interview and wrote liner notes for Khan's Supreme Collection, Vol. 1 compilation. He also became interested in the blues musician Robert Johnson and the hardcore punk band Bad Brains during this time.
Buckley moved back to Los Angeles in September when his father's former manager, Herb Cohen, offered to help him record his first demo of original songs. Buckley completed Babylon Dungeon Sessions, a four-song cassette that included the songs "Eternal Life×Eternal Life1995 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Eternal Life (LP version)4:542Eternal Life (road version)4:503Last Goodbye (live and acoustic in Japan)4:364Lover, You Should've Come Over (live and acoustic in Japan)7:19", "Last Goodbye×Last Goodbye1995 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Last Goodbye4:342Last Goodbye (edit)4:183Kangaroo14:07", "Strawberry Street" and punk screamer "Radio". Cohen and Buckley hoped to attract industry attention with the demo tape.
Buckley flew back to New York City early in 1991 to make his public singing debut at a tribute concert for his father, Greetings from Tim Buckley. The event, produced by Hal Willner, was held at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn on April 26, 1991. Accompanied by the experimental rock guitarist Gary Lucas, Buckley performed "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain", a song Tim Buckley wrote about the infant Jeff and his mother. He returned to play "Sefronia – The King's Chain", "Phantasmagoria in Two", and concluded with "Once I Was" performed acoustically with an impromptu a cappella ending, due to a snapped guitar string. Willner, the show's organizer, recalled that Buckley made a strong impression.
Buckley's performance was counter to his desire to distance himself musically from his father; he later said: "It wasn't my work, it wasn't my life. But it bothered me that I hadn't been to his funeral, that I'd never been able to tell him anything. I used that show to pay my last respects." The concert was Buckley's first step into the music industry that had eluded him for years. Buckley rejected the suggestion he had performed at the concert to launch his career, instead citing personal reasons for performing.
On subsequent trips to New York in mid-1991, Buckley began co-writing with Gary Lucas, resulting in the songs "Grace×Grace15 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Mojo Pin5:432Grace5:223Last Goodbye4:354Lilac Wine4:325So Real4:446Hallelujah6:537Lover, You Should’ve Come Over6:438Corpus Christi Carol2:579Eternal Life4:5310Dream Brother5:2511Forget Her5:13" and "Mojo Pin". In late 1991, he began performing with Lucas's band Gods and Monsters in New York City. After being offered a development deal as a member of Gods and Monsters at Imago Records, Buckley moved to the Lower East Side, Manhattan, at the end of 1991. The day after Gods and Monsters officially debuted in March 1992, he decided to leave the band.
Buckley began performing at several clubs and cafés around Lower Manhattan, and Sin-é became his main venue. He first appeared at Sin-é in April 1992 and quickly earned a regular Monday night slot. His repertoire consisted of a diverse range of folk, rock, R&B, blues, and jazz cover songs, much of which he had newly learned. During this period, he discovered singers such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Van Morrison, and Judy Garland. Buckley performed an eclectic selection of covers by artists including Led Zeppelin ("Night Flight"), Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ("Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hae"), Bob Dylan ("Mama, You've Been On My Mind"), Édith Piaf ("Je n'en connais pas la fin"), the Smiths ("I Know It's Over"), Bad Brains ("I Against I"), and Siouxsie Sioux ("Killing Time"). Original songs from the Babylon Dungeon Sessions and the songs he had written with Lucas were also included in his set lists. He performed solo, accompanying himself on a Fender Telecaster he borrowed from his friend Janine Nichols. Buckley said he learned how to perform onstage by playing to small audiences.
Over the next few months, Buckley attracted admiring crowds and attention from record label executives, including Clive Davis. By mid-1992, limos from executives eager to sign him lined the street outside Sin-é. Buckley signed with Columbia Records, home of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, for a three-album deal for nearly $1 million in October 1992. He spent three days in February 1993 in a studio with the engineer Steve Addabbo and the Columbia A&R representative Steve Berkowitz recording much of his solo repertoire. Buckley sang a cappella and accompanied himself on acoustic and electric guitars, Wurlitzer electric piano, and harmonium. The tapes were released on the posthumous compilation album You and I×You and I11 March 2016 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Just Like a Woman6:282Everyday People4:333Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'4:044Grace6:125Calling You5:006Dream of You and I4:327The Boy With the Thorn in His Side3:368Poor Boy Long Way From Home6:039Night Flight4:5710I Know It's Over7:02, and some of the material appeared on Buckley's debut album, Grace. Recording dates were set for July and August 1993 for what would become Buckley's recording debut, an EP of four songs, including a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do". The live EP Live at Sin-é×Live at Sin-é23 November 1993 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Mojo Pin5:522Eternal Life5:433Je n'en connais pas la fin5:004The Way Young Lovers Do10:03 was released on November 23, 1993.

Grace

In mid-1993, Buckley began working on his first album, Grace×Grace15 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Mojo Pin5:432Grace5:223Last Goodbye4:354Lilac Wine4:325So Real4:446Hallelujah6:537Lover, You Should’ve Come Over6:438Corpus Christi Carol2:579Eternal Life4:5310Dream Brother5:2511Forget Her5:13, with the producer Andy Wallace. Buckley assembled a band, composed of the bassist Mick Grøndahl and the drummer Matt Johnson, and spent several weeks rehearsing. In September, the trio headed to Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, to spend six weeks recording basic tracks. Buckley invited ex-bandmate Lucas to play guitar on the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", and the Woodstock-based jazz musician Karl Berger wrote and conducted string arrangements with Buckley assisting at times. Buckley returned home for overdubbing at studios in Manhattan and New Jersey, where he performed take after take to capture the perfect vocals and experimented with ideas for additional instruments and added textures to the songs.
In January 1994, Buckley departed on his first solo North American tour in support of Live at Sin-é, followed by a 10-day European tour in March. Buckley played clubs and coffeehouses and made in-store appearances. After returning, Buckley invited guitarist Michael Tighe to join the band and a collaboration between the two resulted in "So Real×So Real1994 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1So Real4:412Tongue11:393Lost Highway4:22", a song recorded with producer/engineer Clif Norrell as a late addition to the album. In June, Buckley began his first full band tour, called the "Peyote Radio Theatre Tour", which lasted into August. The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and the Edge from U2 were among the attendees of these early shows.
Grace was released on August 23, 1994. In addition to seven original songs, the album included three covers: "Lilac Wine", based on the version by Nina Simone and made famous by Elkie Brooks; "Corpus Christi Carol", from Benjamin Britten's A Boy was Born, Op.3, a composition that Buckley was introduced to in high school, based on a 15th-century hymn; and "Hallelujah×Hallelujah1995 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lover, You Should've Come Over (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)8:032So Real (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:393Last Goodbye (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)4:404What Will You Say (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)7:555Mojo Pin (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)6:556Eternal Life (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:367Kick Out the Jams (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)3:278Mojo Pin (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)6:239Grace (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)5:5310Last Goodbye (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)5:5111So Real (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)4:2912Lover, You Should've Come Over (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)7:48" by Leonard Cohen, based on John Cale's recording from the Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan. His rendition of "Hallelujah" has been called "Buckley's best" and "one of the great songs" by Time, and is included on Happy Mag's list of "The 10 Best Covers Of All Time", and Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Sales of Grace were slow, and it garnered little radio airplay despite critical acclaim. The Sydney Morning Herald proclaimed it "a romantic masterpiece" and a "pivotal, defining work". Despite slow initial sales, the album went gold in France and Australia over the next two years, achieved gold status in the U.S. in 2002, and sold over six times platinum in Australia in 2006.
Grace won appreciation from a number of revered musicians and artists, including members of Buckley's biggest influence, Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page considered Grace close to being his "favorite album of the decade". Robert Plant was also complimentary, as was Brad Pitt, saying of Buckley's work, "There's an undercurrent to his music, there's something you can't pinpoint. Like the best of films, or the best of art, there's something going on underneath, and there's a truth there. And I find his stuff absolutely haunting. It just ... it's under my skin." Others who had influenced Buckley's music lauded him: Bob Dylan named Buckley "one of the great songwriters of this decade", and, in an interview with The Village Voice, David Bowie named Grace one of 10 albums he would bring with him to a desert island. In 2010, the Smiths singer Morrissey, one of Buckley's influences, named Grace one of his favorite albums.

My Sweetheart the Drunk

In 1996, Buckley started writing a new album with the working title My Sweetheart the Drunk. While working with Patti Smith on her 1996 album Gone Again, he met Tom Verlaine, lead singer of the punk-new wave band Television. Buckley asked Verlaine to be producer on the new album and he agreed. In mid-1996, Buckley and his band began recording sessions in Manhattan with Verlaine, recording "Sky Is a Landfill", "Vancouver×Vancouver22 April 1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Vancouver3:12", "Morning Theft", and "You and I×You and I11 March 2016 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Just Like a Woman6:282Everyday People4:333Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'4:044Grace6:125Calling You5:006Dream of You and I4:327The Boy With the Thorn in His Side3:368Poor Boy Long Way From Home6:039Night Flight4:5710I Know It's Over7:02". Eric Eidel played the drums through these sessions as a stop-gap after Matt Johnson's departure, before Parker Kindred joined as full-time drummer. Around this time, Buckley met Inger Lorre of the Nymphs in an East Village bar and struck up a fast and close friendship. Together, they contributed a track to Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, a Jack Kerouac tribute album. After Lorre's backup guitarist for an upcoming album quit the project, Buckley offered to fill in. He became attached to one of the songs from the album, "Yard of Blonde Girls" and recorded a cover. Another recording session in Manhattan followed in early 1997, but Buckley and the band were unsatisfied with the material.
On February 4, 1997, Buckley played a short set at the Knitting Factory's tenth anniversary concert featuring a selection of his new songs: "Jewel Box", "Morning Theft", "Everybody Here Wants You×Everybody Here Wants You1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Everybody Here Wants You4:462Lover, You Should've Come Over (acoustic live)7:203Tongue11:39", "The Sky is a Landfill" and "Yard of Blonde Girls". Lou Reed was in attendance and expressed interest in working with Buckley. The band played their first gig with Parker Kindred, their new drummer, at Arlene's Grocery in New York on February 9. The set featured much of Buckley's new material that would appear on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk and a recording has become one of Buckley's most widely distributed bootlegs. Later that month, Buckley recorded a spoken word reading of the Edgar Allan Poe poem "Ulalume" for the album Closed on Account of Rabies. It was his last recording in New York; shortly after, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee.
Buckley became interested in recording at Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, at the suggestion of friend Dave Shouse from the Grifters. He rented a shotgun house there, of which he was so fond he contacted the owner about purchasing it. From February 12 to May 26, 1997, Buckley played at Barristers', a bar located in downtown Memphis, underneath a parking garage. He played there numerous times in order to work through the new material in a live atmosphere, at first with the band, then solo as part of a Monday night residency. In early February, Buckley and the band did a third recording session with Verlaine in Memphis, where they recorded "Everybody Here Wants You", "Nightmares by the Sea", "Witches' Rave" and "Opened Once", but Buckley expressed his dissatisfaction with the sessions and contacted Grace producer Andy Wallace to step in as Verlaine's replacement. Buckley started recording demos on his own 4-track recorder in preparation for a forthcoming session with Wallace; some of the demos were sent to his band in New York, who listened to them enthusiastically and were excited to resume work on the album. However, Buckley was not entirely happy with the results and sent his band back to New York while he stayed behind to work on the songs. The band was scheduled to return to Memphis for rehearsals and recording on May 29. After Buckley's death, the Verlaine-produced recordings and Buckley's demos were released as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk in May 1998.

Musical style

Buckley possessed a tenor vocal range. He cited singers including Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Patti Smith and Siouxsie Sioux as influences. He said: "Siouxsie, I have much of her influence in my voice". Buckley made full use of this range in his performances, particularly in the songs from Grace, and reached peaks of high G in the tenor range at the culmination of "Grace×Grace15 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Mojo Pin5:432Grace5:223Last Goodbye4:354Lilac Wine4:325So Real4:446Hallelujah6:537Lover, You Should’ve Come Over6:438Corpus Christi Carol2:579Eternal Life4:5310Dream Brother5:2511Forget Her5:13". "Corpus Christi Carol" was sung nearly entirely in a high falsetto. The pitch and volume of his singing was also highly variable, showcased in songs "Mojo Pin" and "Dream Brother×Dream BrotherAlbum · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Lover7:512So Real5:153Last Goodbye5:094Grace6:095Eternal Life6:316Dream Brother6:197Kick Out the Jams4:048Hallelujah7:329Mojo Pin12:1810What Will You Say7:45", which began with mid-range quieter vocals, before reaching louder, higher peaks near the ending of the songs.
Buckley played guitar in a variety of styles, ranging from the distorted rock of "Sky Is a Landfill", the jazz of "Strange Fruit", the country styling of "Lost Highway×Lost Highway1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Lost Highway4:242Mojo Pin (live at Wetlands)13:483So Real4:39", and the guitar fingerpicking style in "Hallelujah×Hallelujah1995 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lover, You Should've Come Over (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)8:032So Real (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:393Last Goodbye (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)4:404What Will You Say (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)7:555Mojo Pin (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)6:556Eternal Life (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:367Kick Out the Jams (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)3:278Mojo Pin (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)6:239Grace (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)5:5310Last Goodbye (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)5:5111So Real (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)4:2912Lover, You Should've Come Over (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)7:48". He occasionally used a slide guitar in live performances as a solo act, as well as for the introduction of "Last Goodbye×Last Goodbye1995 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Last Goodbye4:342Last Goodbye (edit)4:183Kangaroo14:07", when playing with a full band. His songs were written in various guitar tunings which, apart from the EADGBE standard tuning, included drop D tuning and an open G tuning. His guitar playing style varied from highly melodic songs, such as "The Twelfth of Never", to more percussive ones, such as "New Year's Prayer".

Personal life

Buckley was roommates with actress Brooke Smith from 1990 to 1991. During a tribute concert to his father, Tim Buckley, in April 1991, Buckley met artist Rebecca Moore, and the pair dated until 1993. This relationship became the inspiration for his record Grace and provoked his permanent move to New York. From 1994 to 1995, Buckley had an intense relationship with Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins. They wrote and recorded a duet together, "All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun", which has never been released commercially. In 1994, Buckley began a relationship with musician Joan Wasser, known professionally as Joan as Police Woman. He reportedly proposed marriage to her shortly before his death.

Death

On the evening of May 29, 1997, Buckley's band flew to Memphis to join him in his studio to work on his new material. Later that evening, Buckley spontaneously went swimming fully dressed in the Wolf River Harbor, a slack water channel of the Mississippi River, singing the chorus of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" under the Memphis Suspension Railway.
Keith Foti, a roadie in Buckley's band, remained on shore. After moving a radio and guitar out of reach from the wake from a passing tugboat, Foti looked up to see Buckley had vanished; the wake of the tugboat had swept him away from shore and under water. A rescue effort that night and the next morning by scuba teams and police was unsuccessful. On June 4, passengers on the American Queen riverboat spotted Buckley's body in the Wolf River, caught in branches.
Buckley's autopsy showed no signs of drugs or alcohol, and the death was ruled an accidental drowning. His official website published a statement saying his death was neither mysterious nor a suicide.

Legacy

After Buckley's death, a collection of demo recordings and a full-length album he had been reworking for his second album were released as a compilation album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk×Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk7 May 1998 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11The Sky Is a Landfill5:092Everybody Here Wants You4:473Opened Once3:304Nightmares by the Sea3:545Yard of Blonde Girls4:076Witches' Rave4:417New Year's Prayer4:418Morning Theft3:409Vancouver3:1310You & I5:38Disc 21Nightmares by the Sea3:502New Year's Prayer4:113Haven't You Heard4:084I Know We Could Be So Happy Baby (If We Wanted to Be)4:275Murder Suicide Meteor Slave5:556Back in N.Y.C.7:367Gunshot Glitter5:378Demon John5:149Your Flesh Is So Nice3:3810Jewel Box3:3711Satisfied Mind5:58. It was overseen by his mother, Mary Guibert, band members and his friend Michael J. Clouse, as well as Chris Cornell. It was certified gold in Australia in 1998. Three other albums composed of live recordings have also been released, along with a live DVD of a performance in Chicago. A previously unreleased 1992 recording of "I Shall Be Released", sung by Buckley over the phone on live radio, was released on the album For New Orleans.
An hour-long documentary, Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley, was shown at film festivals to acclaim. It was released worldwide in 2009 by Sony BMG Legacy as part of the Grace Around The World Deluxe Edition. In early 2009, it was revealed that Ryan Jaffe, best known for scripting the movie The Rocker, had replaced Brian Jun as screenwriter for the upcoming film Mystery White Boy. Orion Williams is also set to co-produce the film with Michelle Sy. A separate project involving the book Dream Brother was allegedly cancelled.
In May and June 2007, Buckley's life and music were celebrated with tributes in Australia, Canada, UK, France, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, Macedonia, Portugal, and the U.S. Many of Buckley's family members attended various tribute concerts across the globe, some of which they helped organize. There are three annual Jeff Buckley tribute events: the Chicago-based Uncommon Ground, featuring a three-day concert schedule (Uncommon Ground hosted their 25th anniversary tribute in November 2022); An Evening with Jeff Buckley, an annual New York City tribute; and the Australia-based Fall In Light. The latter event is run by the Fall In Light Foundation, which in addition to the concerts, runs a "Guitars for Schools" program.
On April 2, 2013, it was announced that Buckley's version of "Hallelujah×Hallelujah1995 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lover, You Should've Come Over (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)8:032So Real (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:393Last Goodbye (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)4:404What Will You Say (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)7:555Mojo Pin (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)6:556Eternal Life (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:367Kick Out the Jams (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)3:278Mojo Pin (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)6:239Grace (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)5:5310Last Goodbye (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)5:5111So Real (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)4:2912Lover, You Should've Come Over (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)7:48" would be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. In 2015, tapes of a 1993 recording session for Columbia Records were discovered by Sony executives doing research for the 20th anniversary of Grace. The recordings were released on the album You and I×You and I11 March 2016 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Just Like a Woman6:282Everyday People4:333Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'4:044Grace6:125Calling You5:006Dream of You and I4:327The Boy With the Thorn in His Side3:368Poor Boy Long Way From Home6:039Night Flight4:5710I Know It's Over7:02 in March 2016, featuring mostly covers of songs.
In 2012, Greetings from Tim Buckley premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film explores Jeff Buckley's relationship with his father. At a tribute concert for the deceased Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022, Foo Fighters singer, Dave Grohl, and his daughter, Violet, performed "Last Goodbye×Last Goodbye1995 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Last Goodbye4:342Last Goodbye (edit)4:183Kangaroo14:07" and "Grace×Grace15 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Mojo Pin5:432Grace5:223Last Goodbye4:354Lilac Wine4:325So Real4:446Hallelujah6:537Lover, You Should’ve Come Over6:438Corpus Christi Carol2:579Eternal Life4:5310Dream Brother5:2511Forget Her5:13", with Alain Johannes, Greg Kurstin, Chris Chaney, and Jason Falkner. In 2026, Buckley was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Resurgence

On March 7, 2008, Buckley's version of "Hallelujah×Hallelujah1995 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lover, You Should've Come Over (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)8:032So Real (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:393Last Goodbye (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)4:404What Will You Say (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)7:555Mojo Pin (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)6:556Eternal Life (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)5:367Kick Out the Jams (1995-06-25: Glastonbury Festival, UK)3:278Mojo Pin (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)6:239Grace (1995: CBS Studios, New York City, NY, USA)5:5310Last Goodbye (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)5:5111So Real (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)4:2912Lover, You Should've Come Over (1994-12-01: Cactus Records, Houston, TX, USA)7:48" was number one on the iTunes chart, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, after being performed by Jason Castro on the seventh season of American Idol. The song also debuted at number one on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, giving Buckley his first number one hit on any Billboard chart.
The 2008 UK X Factor winner Alexandra Burke released a cover of "Hallelujah", with the intent to top the UK Singles Chart as the Christmas number one single. Buckley fans countered this, launching a campaign with the aim of propelling Buckley's version to the number one spot; despite this, Burke's version eventually reached the Christmas number one position on the UK charts in December 2008. Buckley's version of the song entered the UK charts at number 49 on November 30, and by December 21, it had reached number 2, even though it had not been rereleased in a physical format.

Influence

Radiohead recorded their 1995 song "Fake Plastic Trees" after being inspired by Buckley's performance at the Garage, London. The bassist, Colin Greenwood, said, "He just had a Telecaster and a pint of Guinness. And it was just fucking amazing, really inspirational." The singer, Thom Yorke, said Buckley gave him the confidence to sing in falsetto. The singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy of Muse said he did not believe his singing would be suitable for rock music until he heard Grace, which made him confident that "a high-pitched, softer voice can work very well". The Coldplay singer Chris Martin described the 2000 Coldplay single "Shiver" as a Buckley "ripoff". Other musicians influenced by Buckley include Adele, Bat For Lashes, Lana Del Rey, Anna Calvi, Kiesza, Ben Folds, Jonny Lang, Eddie Vedder, Fran Healy, Chris Cornell, Sombr, and Nelly Furtado.

Biographical films

According to Variety, a biographical film, Everybody Here Wants You, starring Reeve Carney as Buckley, was set to begin filming in late 2021. It was to be Orian Williams's directorial debut and released by Culmination Productions. It was to be co-produced by Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, and access to his music was approved by Alison Raykovich, manager of Buckley's estate. Buckley's mother said "this will be the only official dramatisation of Jeff's story".
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley is a 2025 American documentary film, directed and produced by Amy Berg. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025, and was released on August 8, 2025, by Magnolia Pictures. HBO added it on their roster in December.