Margaritaville singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett dead at 76

Margaritaville singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett dead at 76




Jimmy Buffett, seen playing with his Coral Reefer Band at the Key West Theater in Key West, Fla., on Feb. 6, died on Friday, according to a post on the hitmaker's Instagram page. (Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau/The Associated Press)

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavoured song Margaritaville and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76.

"Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs," a statement posted to Buffett's official website and social media pages said late Friday.

"He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many."

The statement did not say where Buffett died or give a cause of death. Illness had forced him to reschedule concerts in May and Buffett acknowledged in social media posts that he had been hospitalized, but provided no specifics.


There also was a Broadway-bound jukebox musical, Escape to Margaritaville, a romantic comedy in which a singer-bartender called Sully falls for the far more career-minded Rachel, who is vacationing with friends and hanging out at Margaritaville, the hotel bar where Sully works.

James William Buffett was born on Christmas day 1946 in Pascagoula, Miss., and raised in the port town of Mobile, Ala.

He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing six nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs. He released his first record, Down To Earth, in 1970 and issued seven more on a regular yearly clip, with his 1974 song Come Monday from his fourth studio album Living and Dying in ¾ Time, peaking at No. 30.

Then came Margaritaville.

He performed on more than 50 studio and live albums, often accompanied by his Coral Reefer Band, and was constantly on tour. He earned two Grammy Award nominations, two Academy of Country Music Awards and a Country Music Association Award.

Buffett is survived by his wife, Jane, along with daughters Savannah and Sarah and son Cameron.



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