Jimmy Buffett, legendary ‘Margaritaville’ singer, dies at 76

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Jimmy Buffett and Cast of Escape to Margaritaville Celebrate Broadway Opening
Jimmy Buffett (C) takes opening night bow during the Broadway premiere of "Escape to Margaritaville" the new musical featuring songs by Jimmy Buffett at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Escape To Margaritaville)

Jimmy Buffett, the singer best known for his timeless party song, โ€œMargaritaville,โ€ died on Friday (Sep. 01, 2023). He was 76.

Buffett had been hospitalized in Boston in May to address undisclosed โ€œissues that needed immediate attention.โ€ His cause of death was not immediately shared.

โ€œJimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st, surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,โ€ reads a message posted to Buffettโ€™s official Instagram account. โ€œHe lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.โ€

In May, Buffett was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason, forcing him to cancel a performance. โ€œGrowing old is not for sissies, I promise you,โ€ Buffett said in a statement at the time.

He was also forced to suspend tour dates in September 2022 for undisclosed health issues that led to another hospitalization.

In addition to โ€œMargaritaville,โ€ which was released in 1977 and was so iconic it spawned a chain of eateries, Buffettโ€™s best-known songs include โ€œโ€˜Come Monday,โ€ โ€œA Pirate Looks at Forty,โ€ โ€œSon of a Son of a Sailorโ€ and โ€œCheeseburger In Paradise.โ€

Born on Dec. 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Buffett began his music career as a country singer in Nashville in the 1960s. He recorded a solo album, โ€œDown to Earth,โ€ in that style in 1970. He also performed on the street and in other public places for money, known as busking, in Nashville, New Orleans, and other cities.

During a busking trip to Key West, he decided to move there, and thatโ€™s where he started to develop his beach-bum lifestyle, which would become the theme of his later hits, and begin to incorporate other styles of music into his work, such as pop, rock, and calypso.

After being signed to ABC Records, Buffett began recording more albums. It was his seventh album in 1977 โ€” Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes โ€” on which โ€œMargaritavilleโ€ was recorded. Going into the 1980s, Buffett found that touring was very profitable for him, and he became known as quite the showman.

His fans called themselves โ€œParrotheads,โ€ and Buffett would go on to branch out the โ€œMargaritavilleโ€ name to retail and the restaurant chain, The Margaritaville Cafe. But it wouldnโ€™t be until 2004, with his โ€œLicense to Chillโ€ album, that Buffett topped the pop charts for the first time in his career.

While continuing to record albums through 2020, Buffett also started a second restaurant chain, Cheeseburger in Paradise, though itโ€™s no longer operating, he has written bestselling books. Buffett would become one of the worldโ€™s richest musicians, with a reported $1 billion net worth.

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