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Tributes pour in for ‘Margaritaville’ singer Jimmy Buffett, dead at 76

September 2, 2023 | | Print Article

Tributes have been flooding in nonstop ever since legendary singer Jimmy Buffett’s family announced his passing early Saturday morning.

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs. He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” his family wrote both on his website and his various social media accounts.

“Buffett leaves behind his wife Jane Slagsvol and his three children: Savannah, Sarah and Cameron,” according to Fox News.

As for the precise reason of his death, all that’s known is that he’d been suffering from “an undisclosed health issue” since 2022.

“The musician began struggling with a health issue starting last year, when he was hospitalized and forced to cancel several shows,” Fox News notes.

His last health scare occurred in May when he was reportedly briefly hospitalized and had to cancel a performance in Charleston, South Carolina.

“I had a sudden change of plans this week that affected us all. Two days ago, I was just back from a trip to the Bahamas, thawing out from the California ‘winter tour’, and chomping at the bit to get to Charleston. I had to stop in Boston for a check-up but wound up back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention,” he said in a statement at the time.

“Growing old is not for sissies, I promise you. I also will promise you, that when I am well enough to perform, that is what I’ll be doing in the land of She-Crab soup.”

Buffett was most famous for the 1977 hit single “Margaritaville,” though his other hits also include “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” and “Pencil Thin Mustache.”

“‘Margaritaville,’ released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those ‘wastin’ away,’ an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those ‘growing older, but not up,'” according to the Associated Press.

“The song is the unhurried portrait of a loafer on his front porch, watching tourists sunbathe while a pot of shrimp is beginning to boil. The singer has a new tattoo, a likely hangover and regrets over a lost love. Somewhere there is a misplaced salt shaker.”

“There was no such place as Margaritaville. It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach,” Buffett once reportedly said about the song.

According to Fox News, he “was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.”

He took up the guitar during his first year at Auburn University. He later studied at Pearl River Community College and then obtained a bachelor’s in history from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969.

“The entertainer then moved to Nashville and released his first country album in 1970 called ‘Down to Earth,” Fox News notes.

Besides being a musician, Buffett was also business-savvy.

“Buffett’s evolving brand began in 1985 with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed in 1987 with the first Margaritaville Café nearby. Over the course of the next two decades, several more of each opened throughout Florida, New Orleans and California,” the AP notes.

“The brand has since expanded to dozens of categories, including resorts, apparel and footwear for men and women, a radio station, a beer brand, ice tea, tequila and rum, home décor, food items like salad dressing, Margaritaville Crunchy Pimento Cheese & Shrimp Bites and Margaritaville Cantina Style Medium Chunky Salsa, the Margaritaville at Sea cruise line and restaurants, including Margaritaville Restaurant, JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill and LandShark Bar & Grill.”

Buffett also wrote several books, including “Tales from Margaritaville,” “A Pirate Looks At Fifty,” and “Where Is Joe Merchant?”

His work also inspired plenty of other works, including a Broadway jukebox musical by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley called “Escape to Margaritaville.”

See more tributes to Buffett below:

Vivek Saxena
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