The Late, Great Jeff Buckley and the Legacy of His 'Hallelujah'

It’s safe to say that there would have been a few million less “Hallelujah” choruses if not for Jeff Buckley, one of rock’s greatest all-time vocalists, who died 20 years ago today in a freak drowning accident at age 30. Leonard Cohen, who died last November, might also be millions of dollars poorer, since it was the Buckley’s transcendent cover of Cohen’s previously obscure “Hallelujah” that ultimately led to the song being a staple of everything from American Idol showcases to in-memoriam montages. Buckley’s album Grace, on which his cover of “Hallelujah” appears, got off to a modest start, commercially and even critically, when it was released on Aug. 23, 1994. Rolling Stone only gave the album a three-star review, and among the mixed sentiments, critic Stephanie Zacharek was down on the song for which Grace would become best known.