Jimmy Buffett

Overview

Submitted by guitar-list on Tue, 2013-10-01 18:14

musical style:

photograph of Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett (born James William Buffett in in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 25 December 1946; died 1 September 2023) was an American singer-songwriter remembered for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and "Come Monday". His devoted followers are known as "Parrotheads", with the youngest members being "Parakeets". Aside from his career in music, Buffett was also a bestselling author and was involved in two restaurant chains

Buffett began playing guitar during his first year at Auburn University before continuing his college years at Pearl River Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. He began his musical career in Nashville, Tennessee, during the late 1960s as a country artist and recorded his first album, the country-tinged folk rock record "Down to Earth" in 1970.

Moving to FLorida, Buffett's second release was 1973's A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. Albums Living & Dying in 3/4 Time and A1A both followed in 1974, Havana Daydreamin' appeared in 1976, and Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes followed in 1977, which featured the breakthrough hit song "Margaritaville".

Buffett's album License to Chill, released on July 13, 2004, topped the U.S. pop albums chart for the first time in his career.

Buffett continued to tour regularly until shortly before his death, although later in his career, he shifted to a more relaxed schedule of around 20–30 dates, with infrequent back-to-back nights, preferring to play only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This schedule provided the title of his 1999 live album.

In August 2006, he released the album Take the Weather with You.

On April 20, 2010, a double CD of performances recorded during the 2008 and 2009 tours, called Encores, was released.

In 2020, Buffett released Songs You Don't Know by Heart, a fan-curated collection of his lesser-known songs rerecorded on his collection of notable guitars.

Illness and death:

In May 2023, Buffett was hospitalized to "address some issues that needed immediate attention" and rescheduled tour dates. In late August, he entered hospice care and had a final meeting with family and friends, in which his last words to his sister were "have fun". Buffett died on September 1, 2023, age 76, at his home in Sag Harbor, New York, due to complications from Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer, with which he had been diagnosed four years earlier. He was surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs at the time of his death. Read more about Jimmy Buffett on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.