FEATURE: Mystery White Boy: Looking Ahead to the Jeff Buckley Biopic, Everybody Here Wants You

FEATURE:

 

 

Mystery White Boy

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Michel Linssen/Redferns

Looking Ahead to the Jeff Buckley Biopic, Everybody Here Wants You

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ON 17th November…

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

Jeff Buckley turns fifty-five. It is all the more tragic that he will not be around to celebrate that birthday. The iconic artist died in 1997 and, since his death, so many artists have cited him as an influence. His solo completed studio album, Grace, was released in 1994; a posthumous album, Sketches for My Sweetheart thew Drunk, was released in 1997. I love the compilation albums out there and great live albums such as Mystery White Boy. Since his death, there have been plans for a biopic; nothing has really come to pass in terms of an authoritative and accurate rendition of his life and career. Now, as we learn, that is to be rectified:

A new official Jeff Buckley biopic is in the works, and is being co-produced by the late singer’s mother.

Everybody Here Wants You has support from the Buckley estate and promises to be “the only official dramatisation of Jeff’s story”.

Buckley will be played by Reeve Carney (Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again) as Variety reports, and filming is set to star later this year.

Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert will co-produce the film alongside Alison Raykovich, the manager of the singer’s estate.

Guibert said in a statement: “This will be the only official dramatisation of Jeff’s story which I can promise his fans will be true to him and to his legacy. Thankfully, my determination to assemble all the right participants, no matter how long it took, is about to culminate in the best way possible.”

Richard Story of Sony Music Entertainment, owners of Buckley’s music, added: “Jeff Buckley was a once-in-a-lifetime artist whose music touched people’s hearts and changed their lives.

“Sony Music has been honoured to bring Jeff’s music to the world and now, Everybody Here Wants You is providing a unique opportunity to introduce Jeff to a whole new generation of fans.”

Since his death, a number of films have been made about his life and career. 2012 saw the release of Greetings From Tim Buckley, which saw Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley starring as the late singer. It followed his early struggles to forge a recording career as he grapples with the overbearing legacy of his musician father”.

I am massive Jeff Buckley fan, and I think that he was one of these once-in-a-generation talents who left us too soon (he died at the age of thirty). I have talked about music biopics recently and how there is an upcoming Amy Winehouse project – another peerless artist who died so young. I think that we will get a lot of insight into Buckley’s life and how he went from playing cafes and small venues to being this huge international star. It is interesting that, arguably, Buckley’s work gained greater appreciation in the U.K. and Europe than it did in the U.S. The Californian artist was respected and loved in the U.S., but I feel that he got more acclaim and passion outside of the country. I am looking forward to the biopic, as it is going to be with the blessing of Buckley’s mother. I hope that it opens new eyes and ears to the magic of Buckley’s music! Even though he died in 1997, there has been so much love and focus on his music since then. It makes one wonder where Buckley could have gone had he lived. Rather than imagine, I know that there will be new celebration and fascination towards his music. Everybody Here Wants You is  a long-awaited look into the highs and lows of Buckley’s life and career.

I wonder how honest the biopic will be and whether we will get the full picture. I know that Buckley was diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder and there were some hard times he endured. The next year or two will see some great biopics emerge, though few will be as fascinating as Everybody Here Wants You. The magnificent Buckley’s legacy lives on and, in his short life, he achieved so much and touched so many people. I don’t think we will see a male artist as singularly talented and original as Buckley for many years to come (if at all). The biopic will provide an illustration of Buckley’s gifts and how hard he worked to get where he did. Although he sort of resented the fame and attention when his career took off, some of his live gigs are so spellbinding – the audience completely enraptured by this angelic and powerful voice. I wonder whether Everybody Wants You will look at Buckley performing at small cafes in New York before Columbia signed him. Will there be any mention and look at his death, or will there be more of a focus on the Grace release in 1994? I think there will be a look at his younger years, his coming to the mainstream and his final months. I am very excited, and I know that so many new fans will be created when people see the biopic. I think Everybody Here Wants You will show that, since Jeff Buckley died, there has been…

NOBODY quite like him.