Jeff Buckley was an American musician in the early 1990s who, unfortunately, tragically died by an accidental drowning in May of 1997. If you are unfamiliar with Jeff Buckley, he is most known for his song “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” and his cover of “Hallelujah.” Before his death, Buckley had one album, Grace, which came out in 1994. Grace included 7 original songs and 3 covers. Buckley and his band toured for two years with the album, and he was working on his second album just before he died. The second album was a work in progress for Buckley. When he drowned, he was on his way with a friend to the recording studio to record the album. Although he had personally never been able to finish the album and release it under his circumstances in 1998, the demo version of the album under the title, Sketches for My Sweetheart The Drunk, was released, which included 19 original tracks and 3 covers. With time, Buckley and his music have only gained more recognition than ever before.
This past month, a documentary on Buckley, “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” directed by Amy Berg, was released on August 26, 2025. The documentary included never-before-seen footage, voice messages, and personal accounts from his inner circle. Viewers learned about his childhood all the way up to his tragic death. On the weekend of September 4-7, Normal Theater debuted the documentary for several showings. When audience members walked into the theatre, they were playing Buckley’s music, which really set the tone before the film started to play. Before the film began, the theatre hosted a raffle for free popcorn and a free movie ticket, which is done with every purchased ticket, so everyone in the theatre had a chance to win. That aside, the documentary was so beautifully done. As a Buckley fan myself, I was blown away and felt so informed by the documentary. It was truly so eye-opening because I went into this documentary blind. It’s safe to say that I am officially back in my Jeff Buckley phase. When they chose to play his music within the documentary, it was so haunting that I got chills every time I heard his voice. There are aspects to the documentary that talk about mental health struggles, drug use, and vulgar language, so please be aware of those if that is important to you. The documentary is now available to stream on platforms like Amazon, Apple TV, and others. Also, not that you’re asking, but the song ‘So Real’ is by far my favorite Jeff Buckley song, and it deserves to be heard by everyone.