Jimmy Buffett, the singer-songwriter best-known for breezy, tropical-themed hits like “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” has died at 76.
“Jimmy kicked the bucket peacefully at the evening of September 1st surrounded by means of his circle of relatives, buddies, song and canines,” learn the announcement on his web site and social media. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi on Christmas Day in 1946, James William Buffett didn’t pick up a guitar until his freshman year of college, where he earned a degree in history. He recorded his first album, 1970’s “Down to Earth,” in Nashville, Tennessee whilst operating for “Billboard” mag as a correspondent. Five different albums adopted, each and every of which loved modest gross sales and radio airplay. The exception used to be the 1974 “Billboard” Hot 100 top-40 unmarried “Come Monday,” from Buffett’s 3rd album, “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time.”
But it used to be Buffett’s step forward 7th album, 1977’s “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” that made him a celeb, at the power of the album’s hit unmarried, “Margaritaville.” Sung from the point of view of a person “wasting away” the summer time at a seaside hotel whilst wondering his existence and romantic possible choices, “Margaritaville” used to be a top-10 “Billboard” hit and was Buffett’s signature track.
“Margaritaville’s” enduring recognition used to be affirmed in 2023 when the track used to be inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, decided on for inclusion for its “cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”
“You’re lucky enough at some point to put your thumb on the pulse of something that people can connect with,” Buffett instructed the Registry at the time. “It’s an amazing and lucky thing to happen to you, and that happened with ‘Margaritaville.’”
In addition to “Margaritaville” and “Come Monday,” Buffett’s hits – all exhibiting the signature musical taste he early on described as “drunken Caribbean rock and roll” – integrated playful favorites like “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Fins,” in addition to introspective ruminations like “A Pirate Looks at 40,” “He Went to Paris” and “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”
Buffett’s 1985 largest hits album, “Songs You Know by Heart: Jimmy Buffett’s Greatest Hit(s),” stays his maximum commercially a hit unlock, promoting greater than 5.6 million copies. The parenthetical ‘s’ at the top of “Hit” within the name is a winking acknowledgement that for some, “Margaritaville” is the one track for which they know him.
Over a appearing occupation that spanned 5 a long time, Buffett launched more than 30 records, 17 of which have been RIAA-certified gold or platinum for gross sales of 500,000 devices or extra. He used to be identified for his near-constant traveling agenda together with his Coral Reefer Band, drawing a faithful fan base affectionately referred to as Parrotheads.
(*76*)Jimmy Buffett plays all the way through 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, May 8, 2022 in New Orleans.
Erika Goldring/Getty Images
An avid sailor and personal pilot, Buffett lived the way of living about which he sang and wrote. But he additionally used to be a savvy businessman, parlaying his personality and musical luck into Margaritaville Holdings, a trade empire shaped in 1985 that encompassed song, way of life manufacturers and extra, together with eating places, lodges, clothes, house décor, meals, beer, tequila, or even a retirement neighborhood. “Forbes” estimated Buffett’s net worth at $1 billion as of June 2023.
Buffett used to be additionally a novelist, freeing the quick tale assortment “Tales from Margaritaville” in 1989 and the 1992 novel “Where Is Joe Merchant?”, either one of which crowned the “New York Times” bestseller record, as did his 1998 memoir, “A Pirate Looks at 50.” In the method, Buffett was one in every of just a few authors to height each the “New York Times” fiction and nonfiction bestseller lists. In addition to different novels, Buffett co-wrote two youngsters’s books together with his daughter, Savannah Jane. His song used to be additionally became a musical, “Escape to Margaritaville,” which debuted on Broadway in March 2018 and ran for 124 common performances, adopted by means of a countrywide excursion.
Jimmy Buffett is survived by means of his spouse, Jane, two daughters and a son.
ABC News’ Jill Lances contributed to this document.
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