10 Most Heartbreaking Tragedies In Rock Music

10. Jeff Buckley's Drowning

The rock and roll genre is certainly no stranger to the rockstar burnout. Ever since the first wildman set foot on a stage, there have also been plenty of rock stars who danced a little too close to the fire, from the wild times of Little Richard to the long slow burnout of Elvis Presley. Whereas most fans expect our rockstars to meet their end with drugs and alcohol, Jeff Buckley's passing was a tremendous loss that should never have happened.

Up until the late '90s, Buckley seemed like a star in the making about to explode, with his debut Grace gifting us songs like Lilac Wine and the definitive version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. While working on his follow-up, Buckley went out one night with a group of friends and decided to take a swim in the Wolf River Harbour, all while singing Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin as he floated downstream.

Once his friends went to meet him on the other side, Buckley was nowhere to be found, only to surface a few days later after having drowned in the river. With no singer to speak of, Buckley's last record was eventually released posthumously as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. Though he may not have been with us for long, Jeff Buckley is one case of the musical eccentric that, despite not leaving much, has crafted one of the most spotless legacies in rock history.