It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley covers the life of the rising young star with an otherworldly voice and boundary-pushing artistry, who left the ’90s music world reeling when he died suddenly, at age 30, after the release of his critically acclaimed debut album “Grace.” Told through never-before-seen footage from Buckley’s archives and intimate accounts from his mother Mary Guibert, former partners Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser, Jeff’s former bandmates, including Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred, and luminaries like Ben Harper and Aimee Mann, IT’S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY illuminates one of modern music’s most influential and enigmatic figures.

Produced by Magnolia Pictures. In Theatres Aug 8, 2025.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – Amy Berg
It’s difficult to imagine a time when I wasn’t attempting to make the Jeff Buckley doc. It’s been on my bucket list since I made my first film in 2006. And maybe, since I first heard Grace in 1994. It changed my life forever. It literally became the “tear that hangs inside my soul forever”.

I first approached Mary, Jeff’s mom, in 2007. It seemed like she wanted to work together, but she opted out. She wanted to make a scripted film and offered it to me to direct, but after exploring the incredible archive, I knew this was a doc. I couldn’t get Jeff’s final voicemail to his mother out of my mind for years. It made me cry on many occasions as it probably will for you.

I reached out to her every time I finished a film, and she “politely” declined. Until the summer of 2019. My timing was finally right! I can honestly say the euphoria still hasn’t settled. I heard of the complexities of Jeff’s family relations from artists in his community. I really understood what Mary went through as a flawed single mom. She was trying to be the best mom and also find her own path. Jeff really loved her.

Jeff’s life has so many rich stories with as much relevance now as they had 30 years ago. The challenges he had to overcome explain his depth as well as his pain. He was born of, but not raised by, a beautiful singer who was a cult hero. Jeff’s main challenge in life was his gift. His talent was too powerful for him to ignore but it was inseparable from the ghost of his father.

This film has been a labor of love. It feels as close as one could get to Jeff without knowing him. His story really comes alive when you sit with the three main women in his life and hear their stories and feel their pain. The film starts and ends with them because you get to know him through his music and these defining relationships.

After spending the last 5 years making this film, I can’t even imagine it not being such a giant chapter in my own life. It was as much a journey for me as I hope it will be for its audience.

JEFF BUCKLEY BIOGRAPHY

Jeff Buckley was born in California’s Orange County on November 17, 1966 and died in a tragic drowning accident in Memphis on May 29, 1997. He had 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. His first commercial recording, the four-song EP Live At Sin-é, was released in November 1993 on Columbia Records.

The EP captured Buckley and his electric guitar in a tiny coffeehouse in New York’s East Village, the neighborhood he’d made his home. By the time of the EP’s release during the fall of 1993, Buckley had already entered the studio to work on his debut album Grace, with Mick Grondahl (bass), Matt Johnson (drums), and producer Andy Wallace, and recorded seven original songs (including “Lover, You Should Have Come Over” and “Last Goodbye”) and three covers (among them Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Benjamin Britten’s “Corpus Christi Carol”). Guitarist Michael Tighe later became the final permanent member of Jeff Buckley’s ensemble and co-wrote the song “So Real,” added to the album just prior to its release. Buckley’s studio album, Grace, was released in the United States on August 23, 1994.

In June of 1994, Jeff Buckley and his band began their first of several consecutive tours, which would last for over two years. Much of the material from the tours of 1995 and 1996 was recorded and released on either promotional EPs, such as the Grace EP, or posthumously on albums, such as Mystery White Boy and Live à L’Olympia.

On April 13, 1995, it was announced that Jeff Buckley’s Grace had earned him France’s prestigious “Gran Prix International Du Disque — Academie Charles CROS — 1995”; an award given by a jury of producers, journalists, the president of France Culture, and music industry professionals, it had previously been given to Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell, among other musical luminaries. France also awarded Buckley a gold record certification for Grace.

After completing his grueling tours for Grace, Buckley began working on material for his second album. In mid-1996 into early 1997, he began experimenting in recording sessions with his band in New York and Memphis, with Tom Verlaine as producer. After the conclusion of those sessions, Jeff sent the band back to New York while he remained in Memphis and continued to craft his work-in-progress, making various four-track home recordings of songs to present to his bandmates and label executives. Some of these were revisions of the songs recorded with Verlaine and some were brand new compositions.

Buckley began a series of regularly scheduled – but largely anonymous – Monday night solo performances at Barrister’s in Memphis, where he tested out his new material. His last show there was on Monday, May 26, 1997. On the evening Jeff Buckley died, he was on his way to meet his band, arriving from New York, to begin three weeks of rehearsals for his new album My Sweetheart, The Drunk; producer Andy Wallace, who’d helmed the boards on Grace, was to then join them in Memphis to record this new album.

After Buckley’s death, the Verlaine-produced recordings and Buckley’s demos were released by Columbia as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk on May 26, 1998. Almost three decades after his death and with several posthumous releases, Jeff Buckley’s legacy continues to grow and his music lives on. His fan base includes rock legends, pop artists, loyal followers, and an entirely new generation of music lovers around the world. Jeff’s only studio album in his lifetime, Grace, endures.

 

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.