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Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, whose laid-back, good-humoured, often tropical-tinged country-pop spawned a lucrative one-man business empire, died on Friday. He was 76 years old. A cause of death was not immediately announced.
Buffett’s death was confirmed by a statement on his official website: “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 until his last breath and will be missed immensely by so many.”
Over the course of his 50-year professional career, Buffett amassed just one Top 10 pop hit: “Margaritaville,” a marimba-drenched, tequila-soaked paean to relaxing on the beach after a breakup that climbed to 100 million copies. 8 on the national charts.
But Buffett’s juicy, funny and often marijuana-scented take on tropical light music struck a lasting chord with an army of adoring fans who called themselves “Parrotheads,” a reference to the colorful bird headdresses they wore at the musician’s sold-out concerts.
This loyal audience made Buffett a consistent record seller, even without major radio hits. He spent five decades in the studio, releasing four platinum and eight gold studio albums; His 1985 hit compilation Songs You Know by Heart was certified to sell 7 million copies, while the 1992 box set Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads sold four million copies.
Beginning in the early ’90s, after establishing himself at ABC and MCA Records, Buffett released his music entrepreneurially through his Margaritaville and Mailboat labels.
Jimmy Buffett performs with the Coral Reefer Band at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia on September 4, 1976. WireImage
Buffett’s extremely tasty variety of party music was translated into a variety of products and made him one of the most successful and richest artists in the world. In 2016, his personal wealth was estimated at $500 million.
Forbes wrote about “Margaritaville” on the 40th anniversary of the song’s release in 2017, stating that it has “evolved into a global lifestyle brand that currently has more than $4.8 billion in the development pipeline and annual systemwide revenue of $1.5 billion.” This year, Margaritaville Holdings announced a partnership with Minto Communities to develop Latitude Margaritaville, new active adult communities for people over 55, including the $1 billion location in Daytona Beach, Florida, and a second in Hilton Head, South Carolina.”
The business magazine noted that the artist’s licensed brands included apparel and footwear, retail stores, restaurants, vacation destinations, gaming parlors, restaurants and even a Margaritaville-branded beer line, LandShark Lager, which is expected to sell an estimated 3.6 million cases during the year will be distributed in the first year of its availability.
Buffett was successful as a writer: his novels “Tales from Margaritaville” and “Where is Joe Merchant?” and the memoir “A Pirate Looks at Fifty” all reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. He has also been active in film and television work, writing soundtracks and appearing in cameos, most recently in Harmony Korine’s 2019 comedy The Beach Bum.
His only attempt at musical theater, a co-written adaptation of Herman Wouk’s “Don’t Stop the Carnival” in 1997, was an out-of-town flop.
A tireless stage performer, Buffett toured every year with his Coral Reefer Band and remained a top concert draw well into the later stages of his career – in 2018, he appeared on a national tour with the Eagles. His songs like “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” repeated endlessly at concerts, were perennial favorites to sing along to a legion of parrotheads in Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops.
Christopher Ashley, director of the 2017 jukebox musical “Escape to Margaritaville,” analyzed the enduring appeal of Buffett’s music, saying, “There’s a solemn, bacchanalian quality to these songs, but also a real sadness.” I think his songs have a real philosophical commitment to finding joy now, since being in the now is the only moment… Don’t put off joy. Embrace it. Take it. I think that’s profound and a great message to send to a world as joyful as this.”
Jimmy Buffett performs in New Orleans on May 8, 2022. WireImage
James William Buffett was born on December 25, 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He started playing the trombone in elementary school. His grandfather was an enthusiastic sailor and as a teenager he was involved in the sport, which would play a thematic role in his music.
He began playing guitar as an undergraduate at Auburn University but eventually graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. He briefly worked as a Nashville stringer for Billboard magazine.
Buffett began playing professionally in Nashville and recorded his folk debut, “Down to Earth,” in 1970 for Barnaby Records. In 1971, he toured with country/folk singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker on a trip to Key West, Florida, and soon relocated to the Keys, where he developed his laid-back beach persona.
Buffett was signed to ABC/Dunhill and made his name on the country charts for the first time. his early sets “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean” (which spawned the early, slightly bluish turntable hit “Why Don’t We Get Drunk”) and “Havana Daydreaming” reached No. 43 in 1973 and No. 21 in 1976, respectively the country album charts.
His breakthrough came with “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” the million-selling pop collection No. 12, which also included his signature “Margaritaville.” The set was followed by the platinum album “Son of a Son of a Sailor” (No. 10, 1978) and the gold album “Volcano” (No. 14, 1979). The 1978 live set “You Had to Be There” also went gold.
During his time at MCA in the ’80s, Buffett’s albums remained in the middle of the US pop charts, but he remained a top concert attraction. During this decade, he began his deep dive into personal branding and ancillary marketing, establishing the first Margaritaville retail store in Key West in 1987 and the first Margaritaville Café in 1987.
His fortune increased in the 1990s with the creation of his label Margaritaville, which was successively distributed by MCA and Island Records; Four of his five studio albums this decade – “Fruitcakes,” “Barometer Soup,” “Banana Wind” and “Beach House on the Moon” — reached the pop top 10 and were certified either gold or platinum. Two concert recordings from the ’90s, “Feeding Frenzy” (1990) and “Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays” (1999), were certified gold; The latter album was the first release on a new personal label, Mailboat Records.
After the turn of the millennium, which marked his first appearances at the top of the American pop charts, Buffett belatedly released two studio albums, “License to Chill” (2004) and “Take the Weather With You” (2006), which reached No. 1. 1 on the pop album charts.
His biggest later singles were collaborations that achieved success on the country singles charts. A duet with Alan Jackson, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” was No. 1 nationally in 2003 and received a CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year. A 2004 version of Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin'” recorded with Jackson, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and George Strait reached No. 8. In 2011, he reached No. 1 again with the Zac Brown Band on “Knee Deep”.
Buffett is survived by his second wife Jane, their two daughters Sarah and Savannah and his son Cameron.