Margaritaville singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett dead at 76 | CBC News

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.

Margaritaville, released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those “wastin’ away,” an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those “growing older, but not up.”

The song is the unhurried portrait of a loafer on his front porch, watching tourists sunbathe while a pot of shrimp is beginning to boil. The singer has a new tattoo, a likely hangover and regrets over a lost love. Somewhere there is a misplaced salt shaker.

“What seems like a simple ditty about getting blotto and mending a broken heart turns out to be a profound meditation on the often painful inertia of beach dwelling,” Spin magazine wrote in 2021.

“The tourists come and go, one group indistinguishable from the other. Waves crest and break whether somebody is there to witness it or not. Everything that means anything has already happened and you’re not even sure when.”

The song — from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes — spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 8. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016 for its cultural and historic significance, became a karaoke standard and helped brand Key West, Fla., as a distinct sound of music and a destination known the world over.

“There was no such place as Margaritaville,” Buffett told the Arizona Republic in 2021.

“It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach.”

Music critics were never very kind to Buffett or his catalogue, including the sandy beach-side snack bar songs like Fins, Come Monday and Cheeseburgers in Paradise.

But his legions of fans, called “Parrotheads,” regularly turned up for his concerts wearing toy parrots, cheeseburgers, sharks and flamingos on their heads, leis around their necks and loud Hawaiian shirts.

“It’s pure escapism is all it is,” he told the Republic.

“I’m not the first one to do it, nor shall I probably be the last. But I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun. You’ve got to get away from whatever you do to make a living or other parts of life that stress you out. I try to make it at least 50/50 fun to work and so far it’s worked out.”

The Buffett brand

His special Gulf Coast mix of country, pop, folk and rock added instruments and tonalities more commonly found in the Caribbean, like steel drums. It was a stew of steelpans, trombones and pedal steel guitar. Buffett’s incredible ear for hooks and light grooves were often overshadowed by his lyrics about fish tacos and sunsets.

The song inspired restaurants and resorts, turning Buffett’s alleged desire for the simplicity of island life into a multimillion-dollar brand. He landed at No. 13 in Forbes’ America’s Richest Celebrities in 2016 with a net worth of $550 million US.

Buffett’s evolving brand began in 1985 with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed in 1987 with the first Margaritaville Café nearby.

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.

Flying under the radar in Canada

“Canada holds a special place in my heart,” Buffet told The Canadian Press in a 2004 interview. “I’ve got more family in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia than I do in the States.”

When he came to the East Coast, visiting family and fishing topped his list of preferred activities.

He also spoke of his fondness for Canadian songwriters, saying he kept “a keen ear to the north,” favouring the likes of Gordon Lightfoot and Lennie Gallant, among others. He performed several songs penned by Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn, with two of those tracks — Anything Anytime Anywhere and Someone I Used to Love — appearing on his 2004 album License to Chill.

Canadian comedian Mark Critch said Buffett frequently visited Newfoundland to research his family’s history. He recalled “a very long time ago” running into Buffett at a bar in St. John’s called The Republic.

“A guy was sitting at the end of the bar who had flown in and was researching his family history,” Critch recalled in an interview. “And he walks out and then somebody says, ‘I think that was Jimmy Buffett.”‘

Buffett would make a point to travel to the province’s far-flung rural communities, stumbling upon his grandfather’s home community of Rose Blanche.

“When he found out where his ancestry is from, it connected and made sense to him,” Critch said. “I guess we’re pretty laid back. We like to drink, we like the ocean. Those are very Jimmy Buffett things.”

Buffett could fly under the radar in Newfoundland, enjoying a sort of quiet anonymity away from the keen eye of “Parrotheads.” He would sometimes take the stage at local bars and perform lengthy songs like Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

Critch said you’d never know Buffett was a famous musician unless you directly asked him.

“People respected that his family had come from here,” he said. “They’d respectfully give him his space, but a warm Newfoundland welcome.”

Buffett made multiple appearances on a local radio show hosted by Critch’s brother Mike Campbell on 97.5 KROCK, and had performed at a local high school. Buffett had been planning to come back to the East Coast to promote his upcoming album, Campbell said.

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