Leonard Cohen is one of the most covered artists in all of music. According to leonardcohenfiles.com there have been over 2000 Leonard Cohen covers (that doesn't count amateur youtube posts). I'd imagine he knows a thing or two about writing music. Probably the song most often covered from Cohen's library, is "Hallelujah". In my opinion, and I likely have a bit of company, it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
So many artists have covered "Hallelujah" that picking one version doesn't seem right. That being said, one artist's performance of the song is far and away the best. It's so good, many people think he actually wrote the song. Here's Jeff Buckley, with a blow you away type of performance, of Leonard Cohen's masterpiece "Hallelujah."
Told you picking just one can't do justice to the song. Here's Damien Rice's version, performed to pay tribute to Cohen at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
When Jeff Buckley's debut studio album Grace came out in 1994, it was met with critical acclaim. Buckley received Rolling Stone Magazine, and MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best New Artist in 1995. Sadly, Jeff Buckley passed away in 1997 in an accidental drowning. Since his death, Jeff Buckley's music has only grown in popularity. In 2003, Rolling Stone named Grace as #303 on their list of 500 Greatest Albums. Rolling Stone also named Buckley on their 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of all time, ranking him at #39.
It's a terrible shame that Jeff Buckley couldn't share more of his musical gift. However, the music that we do have from Jeff Buckley is tremendous. You may be familiar with Jeff Buckley's work (especially his cover of Leonard Cohan's "Hallelujah"), but in case you're not, I'd highly recommend taking a listen.
Here's Jeff Buckley performing, "Lover, You Should've Come Over", live in Chicago-1995.
If you'd like to learn more about Jeff Buckley, take a look at his website.
