‘Margaritaville’ Singer Jimmy Buffett Dies at 76
Parrotheads around the world are mourning “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett, who died on Friday, September 1, at age 76.
The musician and businessman — who also made a few acting turns on screen — died “passed away peacefully” on Friday night “surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs,” a statement on his official website reads.
“He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” the statement adds.
No cause of death has been provided.
Born on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Buffett pursued a country music career in Nashville after college, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but soon shifted into what he called “drunken Caribbean rock ‘n’ roll,”
In 1977, he released Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which featured his No. 8 hit “Margaritaville,” and in 1978, he released Son of a Son of a Sailor, which included the track “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”
Buffett had 13 songs hit the Billboard Hot 100, and 40 of his albums ranked on the Billboard 200. He charted nine Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums and earned two Grammy Award nominations.
In 1985, Buffett capitalized on his laid-back music and turned “Margaritaville” into a hospitality company, which opened restaurants, hotels, resorts, and casinos in over the years.
On television, Buffett played helicopter pilot Frank Bama in seven episodes of the CBS action series Hawaii Five-0 between 2011 and 2020. He also guest-starred as a con artist who posed as Jimmy Buffett in an episode of the CBS procedural Blue Bloods last year.
Buffett made cameos in film, too — playing “Running Park Visitor With Margarita Drinks” in 2015’s Jurassic World, for example.
In a social-media statement this May, Buffett revealed that he’d been hospitalized for undisclosed medical issues. “Growing old is not for sissies, I promise you,” he told fans at the time.
According to THR, Buffett is survived by wife Jane Slagsvol and their three children, Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron.
