Credit: Far Out / Roy Tee
Tue 26 May 2026 21:30, UK
Trying to upstage Jeff Buckley is like trying to stop traffic on the motorway with a singular red handkerchief: It ain’t even worth trying.
His star power was undeniable; watch back any interview or live performance of the knotty-haired singer-songwriter and you can tell he’s meant to be a star in his own right, the way you can tell a green light means go.
There are plenty of awkward stories out there about musicians battling it out for the limelight. Perhaps the most famous is the viral clip of Yoko Ono’s screeching over John Lennon and Chuck Berry, who were performing ‘Memphis, Tennessee’ during a 1972 appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. Perturbed, the sound engineer swiftly switched off her microphone when the avant-garde vocables teetered into Guantanamo Bay territory.
Or, that very same year, when a feud fired up between Chuck Berry and Little Richard, as the former fought publicly for the headline slot on a bill at Wembley Stadium, he complained to any outlet that would listen that “I was the star”.
In Buckley’s case, the effort was, at least, not televised or serialised in a slew of journalistic vituperations. It happened when Buckley appeared as part of Gods And Monsters, a raga-rock outfit led by guitarist Gary Lucas after his stint performing with Captain Beefheart.
Lucas had big ideas for the outfit. More than anything in the world, he desired Gods and Monsters to be signed by the BMG-financed Imago Records. Lucas figured that Buckley was the guy to get him closer than ever to his dream; with the dreamy virtuoso on board, Lucas organised a 1992 showcase gig at a Brooklyn church, where Buckley had honoured his father the year before.
Despite the painful memories in the church, Lucas didn’t go easy on Buckley. Quite the opposite. As Imago Records A&R executive, Kate Hyman, remembers, “Jeff was amazing – you could tell he was a star. But every time he came to the front of the stage, Gary would jump in front of him and play all over him.” The gig swiftly became awkward: “I was so pissed off at Gary,” Hyman remembered, as per Uncut.
Further reading: From The Vault
Through all the insight we have into the ‘Grace’ singer today, it’s not hard to guess that he was a little on the meek side. Buckley swiftly began to feel mismatched with Lucas, but he didn’t have the guts to broach the subject with his collaborator – the band’s bassist, Tony Maimone, shed more light on the situation, sharing that Buckley confessed sheepishly, “Y’know, Tony, I’m not sure if I’m gonna continue with this…”
Maimone deemed the moment “bittersweet,” recalling, “He was kind and gentle, but I got the impression we weren’t going to be playing with him for much longer. He had his own vision to pursue.”
Soon thereafter, Buckley left the group behind. It was the best move he ever made. Two years later, his first and only album, Grace, was released. Lucas would’ve muddied Buckley’s brilliance if he’d had his way; there’s a reason only one of them became a household name, after all.
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