“Margaritaville” singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett has died on 1 September at his home in Sag Harbor, New York. He was 76.
A statement from his official website reads: “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 and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
Buffett succumbed to Merkel cell skin cancer to which he was diagnosed four years ago. “He continued to perform during treatment,” the statement said while playing his last show, a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July.
Buffett, whose real name is James William Buffett, was born on Christmas day in 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and grew up in Alabama. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969.
He credited early years playing and singing in the streets and bars of New Orleans. Buffett’s recording career spans more than 50 years. His hits include “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” His fans call themselves “Parrot Heads.”
He also wrote songs about his plane being shot at by Jamaican police (“Jamaica Mistaica”), getting lost in the Sahara Desert (“Buffet Hotel”) and smugglers he had known around the Florida Gulf Coast (“A Pirate Looks at 40”).
Buffett also authored bestsellers on both the fiction and non-fiction lists of the New York Times Book Review.
The bona fide business mogul put up diversified lifestyle brand businesses, such as Margaritaville hotels, restaurants and retirement communities, along with sidelines such as Land Shark beer.
Buffett is survived by his wife of 46 years, Jane (Slagsvol) Buffett, his daughters Savannah Jane (Joshua) and Sarah Delaney, his son Cameron Marley (Lara), his grandson Marley Ray and devoted dogs Lola, Kingston, Pepper, Rosie, Ajax and Kody. He is also survived by his Montana sister, Laurie Buffett McGuane (Tom), their children Heather Hume, Anne Buffett McGuane, Maggie McGuane and Thomas McGuane IV; his Alabama sister, Lucy Buffett and daughters Mara Delaney Buffett O’Dwyer and Melanie Leigh Buffett “and many more wonderful cousins, nieces and nephews.”
His family requests that donations be made to Jimmy Buffett’s Foundation Singing for Change, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute or MD Anderson Cancer Center.