Celebrity deaths in 2023: 'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett

The singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, best known for his laid-back songs like "Margaritaville' and his billion-dollar empire, passed away at age 76 on September 1, 2023.

A statement posted to his social media said: "Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs. He lived his life like a song till the very last breath."

Image: Jimmybuffett / Instagram

In the following days, his official obituary confirmed that he died of a rare type of skin cancer, which he had been battling for four years. He had continued to perform during his treatment, with his last gig in July.

Buffett had Merkel Cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer. It first appears as a painless, flesh-colored, or bluish-red nodule growing on your skin that tends to grow fast. One of the main risk factors is excessive exposure to sunlight, and Buffett was certainly known for living his life in the sun.

The singer had also been working on a new album set to be released soon. It had been previewed on his radio and he was promoting it in July.

Image: Promoting his album in July, Jimmybuffett / Instagram

Besides working on music, the singer had also posted photos of him taking tennis lessons in June. He had a big smile on his face.

Image: Jimmybuffett / Instagram

Buffett will be missed by his ardent fans, known as Parrot Heads. He spoke to a lifestyle of barflies and beach bums, conjuring a sun-filled world that still has its darkness. He became loved by millions around the world and was a fixture on the summer concert circuit.

Born Christmas Day, 1946 in Mississippi and raised in Alabama, Buffett was drawn to music since a child. He played trombone in highschool and began performing in local nightclubs before he moved to the French Quarter of New Orleans and then Nashville. His debut album sold a reported 324 copies.

Image: Jimmybuffett / Instagram

After a gig fell through in Miami, he went to Key West thanks to the recommendation of his writing and drinking partner in the early 1970s. It changed his life. "I found a lifestyle, and I knew that whatever I did would have to work around my lifestyle.”

After settling into his lifestyle, including dealing his "share of grass" in Florida, he gradually started finding more success as a musician. In 1974, his track "Come Monday" became his first top 40 hit. That was the year he started experimenting with references to Key West and his laid-back beach bum lifestyle.

It was his 1977 album about changes that would change his life forever. It contained the breakthrough hit 'Margaritaville' and went platinum on the charts.

The song, about a hungover beach bum who's watching tourists while making shrimp while looking for his salt shaker, was a hit. “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... 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.”

His unique island-folk-country sound captured the imaginations of millions and he produced hit after hit. Sick of the commercialization in the Florida Keys, Buffett moved to Aspen, then relocated to St. Barts in the Caribbean. He was still living the booze-fueled lifestyle he sang about it.

At the peak of his success, he also started leveraging his brand. In 1985, he opened Margaritaville-themed stores, cafes and restaurants in Key West. Over the next decades, he would open 30 resorts in the US and abroad and many more restaurants. He'd also move to clothing, a radio station, branded alcohol, home decor, snacks and sunscreen, to name a few.

In 1989, he told the Washington Post that he had slowed down from his party days but was still enjoying life. “I could wind up like a lot of my friends did, burned out or dead, or redirect the energy. I’m not old, but I’m getting older. That period of my life is over. It was fun — all that hard drinking, hard drugging. No apologies.”

Although he often sang about being a pirate, Buffett also took to the skies. He owned several planes and had more stories. Once, he crashed an airplane in the waters off Nantucket while taking off. Another time, his plane was shot at by Jamaican police who thought he was smuggling substances, giving way to the song “Jamaica Mistaica."

Buffett also goes down in history as being one of only six writers (along with Hemingway) to be at the top of the New York Times bestsellers lists for fiction and nonfiction. He had three best sellers but published seven throughout his life. Besides that, he was an actor in films like 'Beach Bum' (pictured) and had a Broadway show based on his work.

With his massive brand and life of making music, writing, and touring (and having fun), he managed to accrue a net worth of around $1 billion, according to Forbes. That made him one of the top 20 richest entertainers of his time. If you're wondering, he is not related to the other billionaire Warren Buffett.

Jimmy is survived by his wife, Jane Buffett (middle); two daughters, Savanah Jane Buffett (right) and Sarah Buffett; a son, Cameron; two grandsons; and two sisters, Laurie and Lucy Buffett.