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Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley emerged in New York City’s avant-garde club scene in the 1990’s as one of the most remarkable musical artists of his generation, acclaimed by audiences, critics, and fellow musicians alike.

Almost three decades after his death, Jeff’s legacy continues to grow, and his music lives on in an entirely new generation of music lovers.

He designed only one piece of merch his life: the Peyote Radio Theater white v-neck tee. We’ve honored his design as the core of this collection of official Jeff Buckley merchandise.

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You and I Liner Notes: A Message From Mary Guibert

by JBM Admin February 15, 2016

  

Absolutely nothing about the processes and pressures involved in being the curator of a dead musician’s musical legacy resembles the way that person’s music would be handled were they alive. Nothing. Nothing in an artist’s recording contract says, “Should the artist die, all control will go to his mother”, and that includes the recording contract Jeff had signed. And yet, for the past 18 years, I have had the extraordinary privilege of sitting in the Producer’s seat for each and every posthumous release. It has been with a mixture of longing, awe, and obligation that I have set out to help create projects that honor Jeff’s supreme artistry as well as preserve his authenticity.

The comprehensive list of tracks recorded by Jeff that are stored in Columbia’s vaults fills a three-ring binder. He recorded rehearsals and wood shedding sessions. There are radio shows, outtakes, and demo sessions, the vast majority of which were repetitive, incomplete, or otherwise “not ready for public consumption”. We made an attempt, in ’98, to assess what might be “in there” when we were deciding what would be the first posthumous release.  The “thousand mile flyover” of those recordings revealed that there were some gems among the dross, certainly, but I was not ready to consider doing anything but push for the release of the work Jeff had put so much of his heart and soul into just before his passing. Thus, the preparation of the double CD release of Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk went forward.

My first statement regarding projects to “the powers that be”, in 1998, went something like this: “The recordings we have are Jeff’s true remains. We should treat them as we would prepare his body for burial –no makeup, no Armani suit, leave the green glitter toenail polish on, and don’t cut or comb his hair.” To my extreme relief and gratitude, I fervently believe that we have been able to accomplish the essence of that metaphor over the years, and no less so than with this particular project.

This time, we thought it would be nice to track down some of the demo recordings Jeff made immediately after he had signed with the label. This was at the height of his “cafe days” as he called them, so his repertoire was broad and deep. He had to hold his repeat audiences night after night, week after week, so he peppered his set lists with countless “oldies but goodies”. He taught himself songs made popular by a panoply of artists going all the way back to Robert Johnson, and genres from Broadway, to pop, to jazz, to rock, and everything in-between. All they had to do was get him into a really good studio, with a master at the board, turn on the microphone and start recording. Golden.

These performances are un-tuned, unaltered, and unedited. Close your eyes, turn up the volume, or put on your headset. It’s just you and him and the guys in the booth. Enjoy.

MARY GUIBERT

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It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley Poster 1800x2250px

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I finally got to see the documentary on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. I was in tears towards the end.

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JEFF BUCKLEY - FULLY SIGNED ORIGINAL CONCERT POSTER.

An original French Jeff Buckley 'En Concert' poster, bearing signatures in marker pen by Jeff Buckley, Mick Grondahl, Matt Johnson and Matthew Tighe. Measures 31x35.5". With tape repairs, age wear etc. See images. Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from our vendor who played in the support band for Jeff Buckley at a concert in Tourcoing, France in June 1995. The vendor took this poster from the wall of the venue and obtained the signatures in person. Signatures further authenticated by Roger Epperson prior to this sale.

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An original French Jeff Buckley 'En Concert' poster, bearing signatures in marker pen by Jeff Buckley, Mick Grondahl, Matt Johnson and Matthew Tighe. Measures 31x35.5". With tape repairs, age wear etc. See images. Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from our vendor who played in the support band for Jeff Buckley at a concert in Tourcoing, France in June 1995. The vendor took this poster from the wall of the venue and obtained the signatures in person. Signatures further authenticated by Roger Epperson

READS:

LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY ❤️ Jeff Buckley

Pierre keep pluggin' away Micky

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Illustration by Sengsavane Chounramany

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Keeper of the Flame: Jeff Buckley's Mum

Mark Paytress, The Guardian, 30 October 2002

IT IS FIVE YEARS since Jeff Buckley took his final, mid-evening stroll into the Wolf River, a sleepy tourist spot on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. Fully clothed and still wearing his combat boots, he splashed around happily, singing out lines from Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’. The idyll was cruelly curtailed when a menacing undertow from a passing tugboat pulled Buckley under.

By the time the river volunteered his lifeless body six days later, on June 4 1997, news of the singer’s likely demise had already created its own wave of grief. Like Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who’d taken his own life three years earlier, Buckley had provided that rare voice of authenticity in ’90s rock. Their tragic, premature deaths only enhanced the belief that their work embodied the full range of human frailty. Parallels with Jeff’s father Tim, a ’60s troubadour who pushed the bounds of folksong to embrace free jazz and impassioned white soul, and who had died of an accidental heroin overdose in 1975, were inevitably made.

Inevitable, too, is the belief that Jeff Buckley remains rock’s last great romantic. Yet, in common with fellow, departed dream-chasers Jimi Hendrix and Cobain himself, Buckley’s legacy has been sullied by acrimony and legal dramas. Crucially, though, there has been no avalanche of cash-in CDs. Two new releases, Songs To No One 1991-1992, and the five-disc The Grace EPs maintain a careful balance between satisfying demand and not tarnishing Buckley’s slim, perfectly-formed one-album legacy. Maybe that’s because it’s not the usual bunch of when-they-die, pile-’em-high record company executives that controls Buckley’s posthumous career, but his mother Mary Guibert.

At the time of Jeff’s death, Guibert – whose short-lived marriage to Jeff’s father Tim had disintegrated by the time her son was born - was a contracts specialist working in healthcare in Orange County who harboured ambitions of reviving her acting career. Now executor of, and beneficiary from her son’s work, she runs the Buckley business with a skeleton staff from an office in Los Angeles. Herself now a player in the rock world, Guibert maintains that it’s art not avarice which motivates her.

"I knew how sensitive my son felt about his work," she says. According to Guibert, Buckley had "really strong feelings" about how aspects of the Miles Davis catalogue had been handled by her son’s record company. It was during preparations for the first posthumous release, 1998’s Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk, that she came on board. Her first task was to ensure that the project was properly billed "as something Jeff wasn’t completely happy with". Since then, she’s overseen a live album and video, co-operated with a biography and a BBC television documentary and now plans to release a commemorative edition of Grace, Buckley’s classic album from 1994.

"Sony like the fact that I come in and present them with a fait accompli, that Jeff’s work is being treated with respect, and that it’s not being handled in a way that’s gonna be embarrassing later on," she says. "I feel over the last five years, I have built a bit of a reputation for having the right sense where these things are concerned."

Guibert’s quest to locate and archive everything relating to her son’s short career has not been without its emotional difficulties. She admits she’s learnt "more than any mother should know about her son", an inevitable consequence of sifting through hours of tapes, interviews and diaries. "I have to compartmentalise myself quite a bit. There’s the musician side of me, and the businesswoman side – and the mother side of me never turns off. But the emotions are things I have to kinda set aside. That’s why I take good counsel. I’ve always involved people from Jeff’s band. It makes it a lot easier, especially if there are any critical blows. But the work we’ve done so far has been well received."

That’s why, unlike previous releases, Songs To No One 1991-1992 is going out through independent label Circus. A mix of home recordings, studio demos and live material recorded at the outset of Buckley’s career, it provides a raw yet riveting peek into pre-history. Essentially, though, it’s for aficionados only and is not to be confused with the real thing. "For us to go with a major label, the material would have had to have been tweaked technologically just to make it listenable. That was not the profile I wanted for this music at all," Guibert insists.

It’s a shrewd strategy that keeps Buckley’s work alive and his reputation credible, but Guibert has other battles to fight – not least dispelling myths surrounding the manner of her son’s death. "Writers still insist that Jeff leapt into the Mississippi River. He did not jump into the Mississippi River! The Wolf River is a peaceful little channel that just happens to have great big tugboats going by. The police say they lose a couple of tourists there every year. You wouldn’t think that anybody could die there - and that’s exactly why tourists go wading into the water."

"Every once in a while, I love to raise my head up and say, Let’s take another look at this, folks. We know that Jeff was happy at the moment that he walked in the water. He was singing a song and talking to his friend about love. This was not the act of a man who was about . . . well, goodbye cruel world, or totally drugged out or drunk, or out of his mind with depression. This was just a sheer, horrible freak accident that happened so unfreakishly."

Jeff Buckley’s music may continue to save – or at least soothe – souls. But, says Mary Guibert, people are still dying down by the Wolf River. It’s hardly the stuff of romantic daring, but the erection of a "Danger: Do Not Swim" warning sign might at least help prevent further tragedies.

© Mark Paytress, 2002

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From the Memorial at St. Ann's

In Memoriam: Jeff Buckley

It was one of those nights that makes a difference in your life, when you don’t give a damn anymore what the rest of the world thinks, as long as they’re thinking it about you, and not just the image you project out of fear, or a desire to be liked.

Our subway stop brought us directly beneath the church, St. Ann’s of the Holy Trinity. It was hot. I was sweating, and my head pounded, reminding me how much I loved and missed my air conditioner. When we turned the corner, toward the front doors of the church, we were met with a beautiful spring-like breeze, and a small camp of mourners. It looked the way old churches in even older cities are supposed to look; black and imposing against a bright summer sky, making you feel like you owe somebody, somewhere, something … maybe praise. Who knows?

We waited and talked amongst ourselves, sharing cookies and memories. We spotted the black shoes, black pants, black belt, shirt, sunglasses, hair and goatee running across the street, toward the church’s side entrance, and immediately knew Nathan Larson, of Shudder to Think. He looked less happy than the building crowd, and obviously had greater reason. He was a friend.

When the doors opened, we worked our way into the line of “Jeff Buckley: Eternal Life Mailing List” members, who were unfairly ushered in before those who’d waited longer, but lacked a modem. But we’d waited, and we’ve loved long enough to mourn, and two among our group of four were list members. So we entered. A disco ball hung from the arched ceiling, and a movie screen showed a still of Jeff beside a mirror. Kazoo’s, guitar picks, and programs were handed out at the door. We later learned the guitar picks were the remnants of a cancelled order for the next tour, and the kazoo’s … well, read on.

We found our seats and upon them fans, like the kind a geisha would use, or perhaps parishioners longing for air conditioning. We waited with the plaintive cries of Reverend Al Green on the sound system to console us. On the stage, sat the urn holding Jeff’s ashes, beside his signature Fender Telecaster.

Fr. Lewis Marshall spoke of Jeff, of his love for the church, and the church’s love for him. He spoke words of consolation, but he never tried to explain Jeff’s death away. He said no belief system he knows of “could make sense of such a senseless” event. He asked that we make the world a better place through the energy and love and creativity that is, not was Jeff Buckley.

“Not all of me is dust, Within my song, safe from the worm, my spirit will survive. -Aleksander Pushkin

Jeff’s aunt, Peggy Hagberg, was the first of many to tell us about Scotty, and that she’d only ever called him Jeff once. She read a poem she’d written for his 30th birthday, recalling the intrusion he was when born, "that baby my sister was having.” But he soon became plaything, then playmate, then friend. She lamented the loss of her special child to the dual person he’d become in manhood and fame. She read from her paper the words “My Scotty …” and nodding toward the still on the movie screen, she weeped “that Jeff” and quietly walked away.

His brother Corey Moorehead, and sister Ann-Marie Huck, the children of the stepfather who raised him (Ron Moorehead,) approached the microphone next. Ann-Marie told us about Jeff’s life growing up, about his meeting with Tim when he was 8 or 9, about how he never put his guitar down after that meeting. She told us about Tim’s overdose, and how it affected “Scotty”, and about the time they went to see “Rose”, and how upset “Scotty” was when she overdosed … they had to leave the theater. She said “Scotty” always held a dark portion of himself away, a part she could never touch. She cried as she spoke to him, saying she hoped he’d finally found peace in his father’s arms.

Corey read a poem Jeff had written sometime in the last five years. I believe it was called “Momma dogga”. It was a beautifully written, funny poem from a child’s perspective, on the love of a dog and a boy, and it lightened the mood. The poem urged us all to learn to live dog-a way. To hear it, you’d really understand.

Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred (guitar and drums from Jeff’s band) walked on stage with Nathan Larson (guitar/vocals, of Shudder to Think, Mind Science of the Mind) and Joan Wasser (violin, of the Dambuilders, and Mind Science of the Mind.) They played a beautiful instrumental piece, with breathtaking violin from Jeff’s former lover, and deeply emotional playing from his friends. They walked off as silently as they’d walked on.

Michael Tighe was scheduled to speak next, but the church’s creative director took his place and told us how much Jeff loved everyone and wanted us all to love him. She spoke of the way he made us all feel we were special because we all had a place in his heart. She read a poem from Lou Reed, as a way to tell us Jeff was our mirror, to remind us how beautiful we really are, when we forget.

There was a presentation from Columbia Records, showing interview segments, and video clips, revealing live footage, and tales of the recording of Grace.

Rebecca Moore, a longtime friend and lover sat at the piano, and admitted she was shaken by the video presentation. She  related the tale of Jeff and her cat, how Jeff made it his mission to make this cat love him. She came home one night to find Jeff with his hands around the cat’s neck screaming “Love me!” She said that was the way Jeff wanted the world. She performed, and sang a terribly emotional song, and walked off as quietly as all the others.

Jeff’s mother followed, and let his cousin, Kelly Hagberg, speak first. She told us about Jeff’s sense of humor, and his undying need to create music. He would imitate every character in Saturday Night Fever, do Steve Martin’s “Wild and crazy guy” better than Steve Martin, play Nintendo with her little brother, or a song on a Fisher Price guitar. Jeff believed we should make music every chance we got, so we played “You Are My Sunshine” on the kazoo’s we were handed at the door. Once for practice, once quietly, and once to blow the roof off.

His mother, Mary Guibert, was amazing; composed and eloquent. She was a natural speaker who drew from us both the sadness and jubilation we’d felt throughout the night. She helped us see the reality in his death that none of us could imagine merely as fans, but she comforted us as well. She loves her son, and she loves us because we do too. Mary told us about the program, that the note from Jeff was one she’d found years ago, that she kept on her bulletin board for inspiration. And she told us about the keys, and the guitar pick strewn about the note. They were the items found in his pockets when his body surfaced, on June 4th.

She urged us to make a Golden Promise.

“A Golden Promise is one that must never be broken. It is made in one’s heart to another heart that’s just departed this life.”

She asked us to “commit ‘random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty’ … demonstrate the courage to follow your bliss … maybe, just maybe, together we’ll be able to repair the damage done to this lowly little world by the untimely passing of this gentle minstrel.”

We were shown a full concert from the Metro in Chicago, from 1995; nearly 2 hours long. There were pictures on a wall in the backroom, and a poem by Jeff. Michael Tighe, Parker Kindred, Mary Guibert, and Jeff’s siblings mingled in the room, graciously taking time with well-meaning fans.

We left that night, feeling like we had a higher purpose, that things did matter. We left with songs in our hearts, and on our lips. We played our kazoo’s on the streets of New York as Mary had asked us too.

Life will not go on as it always had. Life will go on as it always should have.

with love from the delphi -dennis

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In the chronicles of music history, Dana Tynan's lens captured a moment of serendipity – a rare, unearthed gem from his first Rolling Stone interview that now transcends time. In this black and white print, Jeff Buckley is immortalized during the zenith of his career, the era of 'Grace.' The frame is a portal to an intimate, unguarded instant – Buckley's eyes, deep and reflective, seem to hold secrets of the universe. The image resonates with the enigmatic charisma that defined this artist, his talent and vulnerability laid bare. It's a glimpse into the soul behind the music, a testament to the power of both the artist and the photographer to capture a moment that will forever echo through the corridors of musical legend.

[sweetdreamsjeff]

In the chronicles of music history, Dana Tynan's lens captured a moment of serendipity – a rare, unearthed gem from his first Rolling Stone interview that now transcends time. In this black and white print, Jeff Buckley is immortalized during the zenith of his career, the era of 'Grace.' The frame is a portal to an intimate, unguarded instant – Buckley's eyes, deep and reflective, seem to hold secrets of the universe. The image resonates with the enigmatic charisma that defined this artist, his talent and vulnerability laid bare. It's a glimpse into the soul behind the music, a testament to the power of both the artist and the photographer to capture a moment that will forever echo through the corridors of musical legend.

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Image by Dana Tynan

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Thanks Steven for the new image! @mojopin1983

📷 Dana Tynan (thanks to Steven for finding)

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Jeff Buckley’s mother to attend San Francisco premiere of new documentary

By Aidin Vaziri,Staff WriterJuly 29, 2025

When “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” premieres in Bay Area theaters next month, audiences will get more than just a cinematic portrait of the late musician whose voice captivated a generation — they’ll also hear from someone who knew him best.

Mary Guibert, Buckley’s mother and a central figure in the new documentary directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg, is scheduled to appear in person for a Q&A following the opening-night screening at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on Aug. 8.

The film, which earned critical acclaim after its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, traces Buckley’s brief but luminous career. Best known for his haunting 1994 debut album “Grace,” Buckley delivered a singular vocal style that reimagined songs like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Nina Simone’s “Lilac Wine” with stunning emotional depth. 

“The challenge any biographical project faces is how to reduce a dynamic life into a few incandescent minutes,” Guibert told the Chronicle. “Amy Berg has crafted a valentine to Jeff’s fans that is drenched in his music and filled with his own voice.”

The post-screening Q&A at The Roxie will be moderated by longtime music journalist and Chronicle contributor Ben Fong-Torres.

“If memory serves, some of Jeff’s most ardent fans live in the Bay Area,” said Guibert, who lives in Northern California. “I’m looking forward to being a part of their experience, and to basking in the grace his fans always bring with them.”

Buckley drowned in Memphis’ Wolf River in 1997 at age 30, leaving behind just one studio album — although many posthumous releases have arrived in its wake.

In the film, a brief moment captures Buckley listing his influences: “Love, anger, depression, joy… and Zeppelin.” 

While his soaring vocals owed much to Robert Plant’s blues-rooted howl, Buckley’s voice was more fluid, oscillating between ethereal beauty and explosive force. 

“It’s Never Over” weaves together never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews featuring Guibert, Buckley’s former romantic partners Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser, and bandmates Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred. 

Musicians Alanis Morissette, Ben Harper and Aimee Mann also appear, with the latter calling Buckley “literally the best singer I’ve ever heard.” There’s footage of Paul and Linda McCartney visiting him backstage. A quote from David Bowie describes “Grace” as “the greatest album ever made.”

The documentary also emphasizes the mythology that has grown around Buckley since his death, but grounds it in the complexities of his real life. We hear how his father, the late folk musician Tim Buckley, abandoned him before he was born, yet still loomed over Jeff’s creative psyche like a ghost. 

Jeff was raised by Guibert, who recalls in the film that she first heard him sing from his bassinet. From a young age, music seemed to possess him. 

In 1991, when he reluctantly participated in a tribute concert for Tim Buckley, his performance was so electric that it marked the start of his own ascent.

As a bonus for theatergoers, all screenings from Aug. 8-15 will include nearly half an hour of newly remastered solo concert footage from a 1994 performance in Cambridge, Mass. — a rare artifact pulled from Sony’s vault that will be shown exclusively in theaters and never made available online or via streaming.

In his own words: Jeff Buckley on music, love and legacy

More than two decades before “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” brought his story to the screen, the late singer shared raw insight into his art, his estrangement from his famous father, and the weight of being alive. In this archive interview, conducted just before the release of his debut album “Grace,” Buckley spoke about the forces that shaped his music.

On songwriting:

“It’s just about being alive, my songs. And about even emitting sound. It’s about the voice carrying much more information than the words do. The little scared kid or the full-on romantic lover is being accessed.”

On inspiration and rage:

“I have notebooks everywhere I go. I’m always daydreaming. Or things that happen to me. Sometimes, when you get too smart for yourself, you start worrying about things that everybody should be worrying about but nobody worries about, and the weight is so overwhelming that you feel rage on a global level. And the whole world is so anti-life, especially a world ruled by men who don’t want to sit, listen and understand what life is all about.”

On sensitivity:

“Sensitivity isn’t being wimpy. It’s about being so painfully aware that a flea landing on a dog is like a sonic boom.”

On his father, Tim Buckley:

“I met him one time, and a couple months later he died. But between that, he never wrote and never called, and I didn’t even get invited to the funeral. There’s just no connection, really. I wish I did get to talk to him a lot. We went out a couple of times. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page have much more influence on me than he ever did.”

On his creative aesthetic:

“My music is like a lowdown, dreamy bit of the psyche. It’s part quagmire and part structure. The quagmire is important for things to grow in. Do you ever have one of those memories where you think you remember a taste or a feel of something, maybe an object, but the feeling is so bizarre and imperceptible that you just can’t quite get a hold of it? It drives you crazy. That’s my musical aesthetic, just this imperceptible fleeting memory.”

Aidin Vaziri

Staff Writer

Aidin Vaziri is a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle.

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The 26-minute remastered footage of this show was filmed live at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA., and it will be played in its entirety after the movie. Get your tickets now!

The performance took place on February 19, 1994, months before Grace, Buckley’s only studio album, would be released.

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Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye | Eurockéennes | Belfort, France | 7/9/1995

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Just got my ticket for the It's Never Over Docufilm!

Excited!