Jeff Scott Buckley

Jeff Scott Buckley was born in Anaheim, California. His father was a songwriter in the 60's and 70's but sadly died in 1975. He was raised by his mother and step-father, they called him Scottie, but he called himself Jeff after meeting his real father for the first and only time when he was 10.

Buckley graduated at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. He was in a few bands to start, mostly playing guitars, he had yet to reveal his excellent voice. The thing about Jeff Buckley's voice was that his voice had about 3.5 octaves, ranging from A2 to Eb6.

Buckley performed a tribute to his father in 1991. He was not down as a performer and said himself it was not a "springboard", but "something very personal". He played with Gary Lucas, who ended up writing the music for two of Buckley's most acclaimed songs (Grace and Mojo Pin).

Buckley began to become known in cafés around New York, especially Sin-é, in East Village. His first songs were recorded live at Sin-é. This led to the eventual signing to a major record label.

Grace was released in 1994 by Columbia Records. By this time Buckley's potential was being appreciated by musicians like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, Thom Yorke, Paul McCartney, and Neil Peart. Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is said to be the definative track on Grace and is his most known song.

In 1997, Buckley travelled to Memphis, Tennessee to begin recording on his second album, which was said to be called "My Sweetheart the Drunk". The night he and his band arrived in Memphis, Buckley went swimming in Wolf River, a tributary of the Mississippi River.

Sadly this was to be Jeff Scott Buckley's last night as he unfortunately drowned. His unexpected death led to many conspiracies, as is expected. However these conspiracies were overwhelmed by the amount of tributes that were coming in for Jeff Buckley. Although Jeff Buckley only really released 1 album, and an EP of four tracks recorded at Sin-é, 10 albums have been released, showing the amount of respect people had for him. Over 27 songs have been written as a tribute to him. He was recognised by Elton John after his death and was really the next big thing.

Had it not been for his untimely death, Jeff Scott Buckley would now be a household name, but either way, he will still never be forgotton.

Jeff Scott Buckley
November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997
"The Pure Drop In An Ocean Of Noise"