Samiul Bashar Samin
Once every generation, a musician comes along, who manages to change our perception of music through their passion and creativity. The late Jeff Buckley is still considered to be one of the best singers the world has seen.
Jeff Buckley was the son of the famous singer and songwriter Tim Buckley who died of a drug overdose in 1975 and his mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist. He was exposed to music from an early age and he grew up singing in harmony with his mother.
He was influenced by progressive acts like Rush, Genesis and Yes. As a guitar player, the jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola had insurmountable influence in his playing. After studying music for a year when he was 19 he started performing in hotels to try and find success.
He rose up the ladder of success in a very short time and was quickly recognized for his brilliant tenor voice and passionate songwriting.
He released his first album Grace in August 23, 1994. The album landed success and recognition for Buckley and his rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah received applause from Time and The Rolling Stones magazine and it was called “one of the greatest songs” and was in the Top 500 songs list.
In May 21 1997, Jeff Buckley had vanished while swimming and although his death has been ruled as an accident, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding his death with conspiracy theories running wild. But there can be no doubt that the world lost a musician who played a pivotal role in the evolution of music.