TikTok virality gives Jeff Buckley his first US Top 100 hit 29 years after his death

"Jeff Buckley has achieved his first US Hot 100 hit single, 29 years after his death, with Lover, You Should Have Come Over at No 97 this week. TikTok virality is behind the success, as a new generation of listeners discover Buckley's spirited, romantic songwriting and pair it with videos on the social media platform. TikTok videos don't count towards US chart positions, but viral trends drive listeners towards songs on streaming services that do count."

"Lover, You Should Have Come Over is an acoustic ballad in which Buckley laments a broken relationship and longs for the lover of the title to return and forgive him. All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter she's the tear that hangs inside my soul for ever, runs one particularly heartfelt section. The track features on Grace, Buckley's sole studio album, released in 1994."

"Tragically, Buckley never followed it up. He died in 1997, accidentally drowning while swimming in the Mississippi River. Sketches for songs he had been working on for a second album were released the following year as the compilation Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. In 2016, another compilation of unheard material was released: You and I, chiefly containing cover versions he'd recorded in 1993, including songs by Bob Dylan, the Smiths and Led Zeppelin."

Jeff Buckley achieved his first US Hot 100 hit single, 29 years after his death, with "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" at No 97. TikTok virality encouraged a new generation to discover Buckley's romantic songwriting and to pair the song with platform videos. TikTok videos do not count toward US chart positions, but viral trends drive listeners to streaming services that do. "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" is an acoustic ballad lamenting a broken relationship and pleading for forgiveness, and it appears on Grace (1994). Grace peaked at No 82 and later became a platinum touchstone. Buckley died in 1997 by accidental drowning; posthumous compilations include Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk and You and I. TikTok-driven resurgences have also pushed other 1990s alternative songs onto the charts.

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