Dream Brother

A “meticulously researched” dual biography on the lives and artistry of the father and son musicians whose lives were each cut short (Chicago Tribune).

When Jeff Buckley drowned at the age of thirty in 1997, he not only left behind a legacy of brilliant music—he brought back haunting memories of his father, ’60s troubadour Tim Buckley, a gifted musician who barely knew his son and who himself died at twenty-eight. Both father and son made transcendent music that mixed rock, jazz, and folk; both amassed a cadre of obsessive, adoring fans.

This absorbing dual biography—based on interviews with more than one hundred friends, family members, and business associates as well as access to journals and unreleased recordings—tells for the first time the intriguing, often heartbreaking story of these two musicians. It offers a new understanding of the Buckleys’ parallel lives—and tragedies—while exploring the changing music business between the '60s and the '90s. Finally, it tells the story of a father and son, two complex, enigmatic men who died searching for themselves and each other.

Praise for Dream Brother

“Ambitious. . . . Uses a wealth of reportage to depict convincingly two generations of pop music turmoil.” —Washington Post

“An extraordinarily detailed account of the Buckleys’ personal and professional lives . . . Browne’s book is a seamless, readable narrative. . . . He’s not just a fine journalist but a natural storyteller.” —Boston Globe

“Captures their respective legacies with the same kind of poetic sweep the Buckleys offered with their music.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram