Jeff Buckley’s music has been in my family ever since my dad made his first mixtape for my mom when they were dating. His unique voice and carefully constructed lyrics have truly displayed how talented this artist was. On January 24th, 2025, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley documentary premiered at Sundance Film Festival and had its theatrical release in limited theatres on August 8th, 2025. The documentary, now on several streaming platforms, tells the unique story of Buckley’s life, starting with his unfortunate childhood. Tim Buckley was Jeff’s father who had abandoned him to become a rockstar, who died at age 28. Although Buckley’s father was not present in his life, his step-dad introduced him to Led Zeppelin, which Buckley claims to have changed his life.
He got his first guitar in high school, and started his first band. As Buckley continued his musical career, he performed at a local festival lineup, where his name was the biggest talk of the entire event. It is said that the audience knew that Tim Buckley’s son would be performing, and Jeff actually performed one of his father’s songs, weeping. At the end of his performance, he took home no less than 60 business cards.
Jeff Buckley is also known for having vocals inspired by Nina Simone, an American singer and pianist. This is something that was widely talked about in the documentary, because his voice sounds so much like hers. Buckley is known for covering Simone’s songs as well, for example, when he sings Lilac Wine.
Buckley’s most popular album, Grace, was a big topic in this documentary as well. The ending remarks say, “Buckley’s studio album, Grace, has been named one of the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone, NME, and Pitchfork. The album eventually achieved platinum status worldwide.” Buckley claimed that this album was a death prayer not fearing anything.
The album, Grace, holds many of his well-known songs like “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”, “Grace”, “Lilac Wine”, “Last Goodbye”, and his iconic cover of “Hallelujah.” In 2008, Buckley’s most popular cover of Hallelujah reached #1 on the billboard 200. Since then, it has exceeded a billion streams.
Unfortunately, after all of Buckley’s fame and success, he passed away May 29,1997. His body was found in Wolf River in Memphis, where he drowned. Despite the rumors, there were no drugs or alcohol in his system. In the documentary, it is said that he was singing “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin when he died. His death was tragic, but his legacy will live on, especially through the premier of this beautifully crafted documentary.
As I previously mentioned, Buckley’s music has been in my family since before I was born. My mom and dad shared a love for it, and as I got older, I did too. I actually performed his most famous and recognized song “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” at an annual concert for my music program last spring. This performance meant so much to me, and I truly felt like the audience resonated with it. It’s a song I still love to sing, especially with my parents. It was a piece I had grown to love so much, and I felt like I should share my performance with my school.
This documentary was exactly how I thought it would be. A lot of Buckley’s life was tragic due to loss, drugs, and mental health issues. This documentary did a great job of telling the story of how he got to where he did, not only as an artist, but as a person. His relationships determined so much of who he was as a person, and the story wouldn’t be complete without those connections. Seeing how Buckley rose to the top was so inspiring, especially the portion when they showed his high school band. It really tells the story that if you have enough dedication and creativity, you can put exactly how you’re feeling into lyrics.
I believe that documentaries are one of the most beautiful forms of journalism. The way this inspiring story was told, captured so many perspectives of how Buckley rose to fame. I felt incredibly informed after watching this, because I didn’t know his whole back story, especially with his relationships that inspired his lyrics.
Whether you are a fan, a listener, or have no idea who Jeff Buckley is, I recommend this documentary to you. His music holds so much emotion, and anyone who watches this will understand that.