Jeff Buckley released only 'Grace' in his lifetime. Such staggering statistics might only be rivalled in ridicule by Jeff Buckley, who released only one 10-track album in his lifetime – 1994's peerless Grace – but has been honoured with 10 posthumous collections of inevitably declining artistic value. But as his surviving tapes were passed between benefactors, the guitarist would be the subject of more than a dozen posthumous studio releases – as well as more than 50 authorised live albums and "official bootlegs", and counting. Popular music's most mismanaged posthumous catalogue must belong to Jimi Hendrix, who released only three studio albums during his lifetime. It's absurd not to imagine that further filling the pockets of family members and record-company moguls is a motivation behind digging ever deeper into the vaults of dead artists. Jimi Hendrix released only three studio albums during his lifetime, but has a posthumous discography of 13 studio albums and 27 live albums. It's notable that The Dock of the Bay was the first of five posthumous studio LPs from Redding, while six more Tupac LPs f ollowed Killuminati – before the rapper was ridiculously resurrected as a hologram at Coachella in 2012. It is when the surviving work in question was deliberately shelved by its creator or left uncompleted, that this argument shatters. īut these were all largely finished recordings that almost certainly would have appeared in their existing form had their creators' lives not been cut short had Redding not boarded that plane, Joplin and Parsons not overdosed and Lennon, Tu pac and Biggie not all been shot. Parting gifts such as Janis Joplin's Pearl and Gram Parson's Grievous Angel surely belong in this world, as do the twin hip-hop classics of Tupac Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and The Notorious B I G 's Life After Death. Hit play on posthumous anthems such as Otis Redding's (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay or John Lennon's Woman, and it's easy to make the same case.
But any scholar will tell you the world of literature is monumentally richer with The Trial in it. A barely published Franz Kafka, now arguably the 20th century's most influential writer, famously said all his novels should be burnt before his death. If we look back through history, it appears that is the case, from Beethoven's love letters to Van Gogh's paintings – of which only one was sold in his lifetime.
So how is it any different, ethically speaking, for famous people to have their private lives exposed in such a way? Does possessing a public profile mean the laws of good taste and common decency for the dead are void? In full flight
It's sure to be a bestseller, but it's equally likely that readers would raise objections were their own diaries, hard drives and shoe boxes ransacked and shared with the world. Originals collects the "original" sketch-like demos Prince prepared of songs written for other artists, many of which became hits, such as The Bangles' Manic Monday, Shelia E's The Glamorous Life and the original version of Nothing Compares 2 U, a 1990 smash for Sinead O'Connor. Prince's 'Originals' releases on June 7, 2019, with the help of co-compiler, Jay-Z.
But at the same time, it shouldn't be forgotten that this is almost certainly material the artists never wanted to be heard in the first place – and the bottom line is, it's always someone else who stands to benefit from its release. Hopefully, these projects might offer everyday listeners the genuine pleasure that only new music can bring. Both works will be pored over by critics and lapped up by fans, shedding fresh light on the creative process and spawning theories about the artists' intent and state of mind. On Friday, there will be a major drop from Prince as his unreleased archives go live as a record entitled Originals. Thursday marked the release of Tim, the first posthumous collection from Avicii (real name Tim Bergling), the EDM superstar who died in Oman last year. W hen an artist dies, what should happen to the art they leave behind? Should the unfinished ideas, rejected scraps and half-realised works-in-progress be left unfinished? It's an unresolved debate that veers back into focus this weekend, as two of the world's most famous musicians unveil fresh albums from beyond the grave.