Jimmy Buffett, ‘Margaritaville’ musician and tycoon, dies at 76
American Musician,Singer,song writer and “mayor of Margaritaville,” the fabled haven of balmy breezes and carefree escape that provided the inspiration for his biggest hit and established a highly prosperous branding and business empire, passed away on September 1 at the age of 76.
Beginning in 2022, when he was ill and had to postpone many performances, Jimmy Buffett struggled with an undisclosed health ailment. He postponed other shows in May and June 2023 by saying he would be “back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention.”
In 1977, he released “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” which had his sole top 10 hit, the gentle and melancholy singalong “Margaritaville.” This was the album that gave him his most commercial success. He sold more than 20 million albums through songs like “Come Monday,” “Havana Daydreamin’,” and “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”
After being born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Buffett grew up in the port city of Mobile, Alabama. he moved to Key West, Florida, where he came across his voice.
He released his first record, “Down To Earth,” in 1970 and in 1974 song “Come Monday” from his fourth studio album “Living and Dying in ¾ Time”.
Jimmy Buffett wrote a ton of pop culture classics in the 1970s and 1980s, including his 1977 breakout song “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”, “A Pirate Looks at Forty”, and “Pencil Thin Mustache” alternated between serious and lightheartedness.
However, they all shared Jimmy Buffett’s distinctive sound, which came to be known as “trop rock” or, as Buffett called it, “Gulf and Western,” and which was anchored by acoustic guitar, steel drums, and pedal steel guitar.
Jimmy Buffett was a pleasant singer-songwriter with a fondness for smart wordplay who mainly avoided contemporary music trends and was never an MTV favorite or a hitmaker. His lone Top 10 hit, “Margaritaville,” came out in 1977.
But he also created a sizable cult of followers known as “Parrotheads,” who accepted his idea of a life lived in flip-flops, filled with beaches, boats, alcohol, and cannabis.
Buffett stared playing guitar while attending Auburn University. then after he moved to Nashville to release his first album, “Down to Earth,” in 1970.
Jimmy Buffett’s musical approach, however, changed from outlaw country to Calypso folk-pop after a trip to Key West in 1971 with fellow country music singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker (“Mr. Bojangles”).
he is also famous for writing best-selling books, producing a Broadway musical, and starting a number of fast food restaurants, resorts, and other ventures.
Buffett was nominated for two Grammy Awards and he also received two Country Music Association awards over his career before being admitted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2017, According to Forbes estimate, the Margaritaville worldwide lifestyle brand generated $1.5 billion in yearly sales and had a development budget of more than $4.8 billion. According to Forbes, Buffett was worth $1 billion as of June 2023.
Buffett stated to Forbes in 1994, ““If you’re an artist, if you want to have control of your life . . . then you gotta be a businessman, like it or not”
Buffett added movies to his portfolio as the co-producer and co-star of an adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s novel “Hoot”. He also was the author of many books including “Where Is Joe Merchant?” and “A Pirate Looks At Fifty”.
As per to his website, Buffett was getting ready to release a new album, with tracks getting weekly airtime on Radio Margaritaville.Buffett leaves behind his three children and his wife, Jane Slagsvol.
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