Jeff Buckley (1966–1997) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, son of folk singer Tim Buckley, who rose out of New York's Sin-é café scene. His only finished album, Grace (1994) — home to that Hallelujah — is one of the essential rock records of the '90s; he drowned at 30 with a second album in progress. Shop Jeff Buckley vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Jeffrey Scott Buckley was born in Anaheim, California on November 17, 1966. He was the son of folk singer Tim Buckley (who died in 1975, when Jeff was eight) but had limited contact with his father during his childhood. He launched his music career in the late 1980s as a session guitarist and eventually became established in the early-1990s East Village New York City singer-songwriter scene through residencies at Sin-é. His debut and only completed studio album Grace (1994) became a slow-burn critical landmark, with the single Hallelujah (Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's song) becoming one of the most iconic vocal performances of the 1990s. He was working on his second album My Sweetheart the Drunk in Memphis when he drowned in Wolf River Harbor on May 29, 1997 at age 30. The posthumously released Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk (1998) collected material from the in-progress album.
Jeff Buckley's sound combines alternative rock, art rock, soul, folk, blues, and singer-songwriter with his distinctive four-octave vocal range and emotionally direct vocal delivery, drawing on his vocal influences including Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, Robert Plant, and Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Multiple anniversary editions of Grace have been released, including the comprehensive Legacy Edition box set and various audiophile reissues. Original 1994 Columbia pressings of Grace are widely collected.
Listeners new to Jeff Buckley should start with Grace (1994).
