Jeff Buckley: 5 Things You Should Know

American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley's short, yet impactful life is set to be brought to the big screen in an independent film titled Greetings from Tim Buckley. And, it was announced Monday that Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley has been tapped to portray the musician in the upcoming biopic helmed by Jake Scott and produced by Smuggler Films. 

Here are five things you should know about the much-revered musician. 

1. Tim Buckley was his father.  Born in Orange County, CA in 1966, Buckley, who was raised as Scotty Moorhead, came from musical roots. His dad, Tim Buckley was also a musician, but died at the age of 28 from a heroin overdose.  

2. He died in 1997. Buckley drowned at the age of 30 in a freak swimming accident in Memphis, TN. He was living in the city while working on what would have been his second album, titled My Sweetheart the Drunk., and decided to take a (fully clothed) evening swim, but was caught in the wake of a passing boat in the Wolf River. Buckley's body was found June 4, 1997. 

3. Buckley only released one studio album. The critically-aclaimed Grace was released in 1994, after Buckley spent a year working with Nirvana's Nevermind producer Andy Wallace. The album contained seven original songs and three covers. 

4. His cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is more popular than the original. Buckley recorded a haunting rendition of Cohen's 1984 song. Buckley's version has been named as one of the greatest songs of all time by both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. 

5. There is another biopic in the works. Jake Scott (son of director Ridley Scott) announced he was developing a film about Buckley's life and career. And after Scott's April announcement, Robert Pattinson expressed interest in playing the part. The film is being executive produced by the late musician's mother Mary Guibert.