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, 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" 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.

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