Jimmy Buffett, the singer-songwriter who drew millions of fans with his folksy tales of living and loving on tropical sandy beaches, frozen concoction in hand, died Friday night. He was 76.
“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the statement on his website said. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
Buffett, who dubbed his brand of music “drunken Caribbean rock ‘n’ roll,” is arguably best known for “Margaritaville,” which was released in 1977 and launched him into national fame and into the history of American music.
The song went on to inspire a brand, which included restaurants and resorts, a radio station, clothing and apparel, as well as food and drink items like beer, tequila, salad dressings and salsa. IT also helped make him a billionaire, with Forbes this month placing his real-time net worth at $1 billion.
Buffett was also nominated for two Grammy Awards, for “Hey Good Lookin’” — a cover of the Hank Williams classic — and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” a duet with country superstar Alan Jackson.
Fans, affectionately dubbed “Parrotheads,” were quick to pay tribute to the singer, who was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Christmas Day 1946.
Many cited “One Particular Harbor” when remembering the singer: “But there’s one particular harbor/ So far yet so near/ Where I see the days as they fade away/ And finally disappear.”
After learning guitar at college — he attended Alabama’s Auburn University before graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in journalism — he began playing on the streets of New Orleans before going on to form his first band.
He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to work for Billboard Magazine and try his luck as a singer, the biography says. But it was in Key West, Florida, in the 1970s that Buffett “found his true voice,” according to his website.
Fellow country singer…
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