The influential singer-songwriter only released a single studio LP before his untimely death.

What happened to Jeff Buckley? Inside the ‘Hallelujah’ singer’s life and tragic death at age 30

The influential singer-songwriter only released a single studio LP before his untimely death.

By Allison DeGrushe

Allison DeGrushe

Allison DeGrushe is a timely SEO writer at **. She has been working at * *since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Distractify.

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December 4, 2025 8:00 a.m. ET

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Jeff Buckley at the Pacific Club on Sept. 21, 1994, in Antwerp, Belgium. Credit:

Gie Knaeps/Getty

- *It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley* is a new HBO documentary exploring the singer-songwriter's life, music, and tragic death.

- Buckley's promising career was cut short when he died in 1997, at age 30.

- His music lives on through posthumous releases, including *Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk*.

Jeff Buckley remains one of music's most fascinating "what-might-have-been" stories. With just a single studio album released before his death at 30, the songwriter left behind a legacy that continues to ripple through the music of Muse's Matt Bellamy and 16-time Grammy winner Adele, among many others.

Buckley's life and work have been the subject of numerous documentaries, the latest being *It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley*. Premiering Thursday, Dec. 4 on HBO as part of Bill Simmons' Music Box series, the film offers viewers a closer look at the person behind that remarkable voice.

Below, we look back at Jeff Buckley's path, from his promising beginnings to the tragedy that halted a career just beginning to take shape.

Who was Jeff Buckley?

Jeff Buckley performing at the Pacific Club on Sept. 21, 1994 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Gie Knaeps/Getty

Buckley grew up far from the spotlight he would eventually step into. Born in Anaheim, Calif. in 1966, he was raised by his mother Mary Guibert and stepfather Ron Moorhead.

His relationship with his biological father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, was practically nonexistent. "I never knew him," Buckley told the *New York Times* in a 1993 interview. "I met him once, when I was 8. We went to visit him, and he was working in his room, so I didn't even get to talk to him. And that was it." Tim died shortly after from a drug overdose at the age of 28.

After high school, Buckley drifted between Los Angeles and New York, playing wherever someone would offer him a stage. Everything changed in 1991, when Buckley performed at "Greetings from Tim Buckley," a tribute to the father he barely knew. The performance lit a spark, and within months, Buckley was singing in Manhattan clubs and coffee shops.

Jeff Buckley was ashamed to be in PEOPLE's '50 Most Beautiful' issue

Toronto Film Festival: As the fallen indie rock idol Jeff Buckley, Penn Badgley rocks it (and nails it) in 'Greetings from Tim Buckley,' a seductive piece of musical mumblecore

In 1993, after signing with Columbia, Buckley released the *Live at Sin-e *EP. His debut album, *Grace, *arrived the following year. The latter introduced the world to his enduring cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," which has since been inducted into the American Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Buckley embarked on several world tours. By 1996, he was stressed and searching for a quieter place to work on his second album. He settled in Memphis the following year, where he tested out new songs during weekly sets at a downtown bar called Barristers. He played his final show on May 26, 1997.

How did Jeff Buckley die?

Jeff Buckley performing at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24, 1995, in Somerset, England.

Mick Hutson/Redferns/Hulton Archive/Getty

As detailed by **, Buckley spent the evening of May 29, 1997, driving around Memphis with a friend, Keith Foti, before pulling over near a marina on the Mississippi River. Around 9 p.m., Buckley dove into the water fully clothed, singing along to Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," which was blasting from a boom box on the bank.

The water was already rough, and a passing barge kicked up the current even more. Foti turned away for a second to shield the radio. When he looked back, Buckley was gone. Authorities were alerted immediately and began searching the deep and murky water, which one police spokesman bluntly described as "not a good place to go swimming."

Jeff Buckley in Atlanta in August 1994.

David Tonge/Getty

Days passed, and Buckley still hadn't been found. On June 2, his label released a statement saying that his family and friends believed he had drowned. They also noted that there were no signs of drug or alcohol use, though someone close to Buckley’s circle claimed he had been "a little drunk."

"He was in a happy mood," recalled New York club owner Michael Dorf. "But I can see him totally dressed, deciding to jump in because it was too hot. He didn’t always think about what he was doing."

Singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield, who'd grown close to Buckley, had a different view. "I always thought Jeff was an angel from heaven," she told EW at the time. "He was a sweet, loving person, and he was supernaturally gifted. He was too good for this world."

Buckley's body was discovered on June 4 in the harbor near Memphis' Beale Street, per the* New York Times*. An autopsy later determined he had a little alcohol and no drugs in his system, and his death was ruled an accidental drowning.

Jeff Buckley performing in the Netherlands.

Michel Linssen/Redferns

"He wanted to live to an old age," Buckley's mother told PEOPLE in August 2025. "He fantasized about being onstage in a wheelchair. He envisioned a life in which he could put his guitar on his shoulder, and people would want to hear him sing, and he could write whatever was in his soul. And that would be all life would ask of him."

At the time, Buckley was working on his sophomore record, *My Sweetheart the Drunk*. After his death, Guibert helped compile the unfinished recordings into *Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk*. The compilation, which was released in 1998, featured the song "Everybody Here Wants You," which was nominated for a Grammy.

Other posthumous releases include 2007's *So Real: Songs from Jeff Buckley *and 2016's *You and I*.

Where can I watch It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley?

*It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley *premieres on HBO and HBO Max on Thursday, Dec. 4.

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