Jimmy Buffett, the singer-songwriter who constructed an empire off his catalog of escapist listening tunes, has died. “Jimmy handed away peacefully on the evening of September 1st surrounded by his household, mates, music and canine,” reads a message posted on his web site and social media pages. “He lived his life like a track until the final breath and might be missed past measure by so many.” Buffett was 76 years outdated.
Whereas a explanation for demise was not supplied, Buffett had canceled a present in Charleston, South Carolina, in Might, having been hospitalized upon coming back from a trip within the Bahamas. “Rising outdated shouldn’t be for sissies, I promise you,” he said in an announcement on the time. Buffett had beforehand canceled a handful of exhibits in October 2022 after one other sudden hospitalization.
Jimmy Buffett was finest recognized for his unfastened, laidback songs, which have been laced with mischief, and inspired a laissez-faire way of life with humor and colourful imagery. He constructed a passionate fan base of self-proclaimed Parrot Heads in the USA, a devotion that helped gasoline a large Margaritaville-branded empire of eating places, residence items, resorts, retirement communities, a jukebox musical on Broadway, and extra. On the time of his demise, Forbes had estimated Buffett’s internet value to be $1 billion.
James William “Jimmy” Buffett was born on Christmas Day in 1946 and he grew up across the Gulf Coast of the USA. Buffett’s regional roots and some years in Key West, Florida, fueled the songs he began writing about lackadaisical characters on the lookout for an escape. He drew vital affect from nation music in his twangy instrumentation, which remained a gentle presence whilst he carved out his distinctive “trop rock” lane later in his profession. And, regardless of its upbeat sensibilities, Buffett’s songwriting usually had a downcast edge that attested to the drudgery of on a regular basis life.
Like many musicians attempting to make it massive, Buffett hung out in Nashville and even labored for a time as a Billboard correspondent for the Music Metropolis. He launched his debut, Right down to Earth, in 1970. The subsequent yr, a buddy from Nashville, the outlaw nation singer Jerry Jeff Walker, introduced Buffett to Key West, altering the trajectory of his music, profession, and life.
Buffett’s time within the Florida locale, and, in reality, a while away from Key West, finally led to his defining track: “I got here to Austin loads in these days. I made it there by getting these faculty bookings and getting on Willie [Nelson]’s second Fourth of July picnic,” Buffett recalled within the wake of Walker’s demise in 2020. “I performed Fortress Creek many occasions. I believe it was after a type of exhibits, the following morning I had a hangover and I needed to fly residence that afternoon. I went to El Rey, a Mexican restaurant on Anderson Lane for lunch. I had a margarita, which helped with the hangover, and within the automobile on the best way to the airport the refrain of a brand new track began to return to me. I wrote slightly extra on the airplane and completed the remainder of ‘Margaritaville’ again in Key West.”
