Tim Buckley Biography

Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an experimental vocalist and performer who incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock in a short career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Buckley often regarded his voice as an instrument, a talent most exploited on his albums Goodbye and Hello, Lorca, and Starsailor. He was married to Mary Guibert, with whom he had a child, singer Jeff Buckley, also known for his four octave voice, who died in 1997.

On June 28, 1975 after returning from the last show of a tour in Dallas he snorted heroin at a friend's house. Having diligently controlled his habit while on the road, his tolerance was lowered, and the combination of a small amount of drugs mixed with the amount of alcohol he'd been consuming all day to celebrate the tour's end was too much. His friend took him home thinking he was merely drunk. Tim was put to bed by his friends, who told his wife that he'd also used some barbiturates. As she watched TV in bed beside him, Buckley turned blue. Attempts by friends and paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful. Reportedly, Buckley's last words were "Bye Bye Baby," delivered in a way reminiscent of the line in Ray Charles' "Driftin' Blues." Buckley was just 28 years of age.