It was May 30, 1997 and I was on my way home after closing the bar I managed in downtown Manhattan. I made my usual stop at Gem Spa to pick up the early morning editions of The New York Post and Daily News before heading to Veselka for a quick late night breakfast. Sitting in the restaurant and flipping through the Post I came upon something that crushed my heart - Jeff Buckley had died, drowned in the Wolf River in Memphis. I wept. He was 31.

Buckley showed tremendous promise and I thought he was going to be huge. His debut album Grace was a stunner—both epic and tender, huge and intimate. I had seen him in concert several times (St. Ann’s was otherworldly) and every performance was sublime. At Irving Plaza, my teenage daughter and my wife were totally smitten by his angelic good looks, heavenly voice and powerful presence—his appeal went beyond age, fashion or demographic. Buckley could channel Robert Plant and Edith Piaf all in one song. He really was an amazingly beautiful soul and tremendously gifted artist. In my rock and roll world he’s left a void that will certainly never be filled and I can only dream of what might have been. His musical output was small but what there is of it will endure and seduce generations to come. Buckley may have died but his art is immortal.

On this day, his date of birth, I share this BBC documentary with you and some fine live footage.

Jeff Buckley - Everybody Here Wants You was produced in 2002 and contains archival footage of Jeff performing live as well as interviews with family, friends and musicians that include Chrissie Hynde, Gary Lucas, Jimmy Page and Patti Smith.
 

 
Buckley live in Providence R.I., 1995: