Jimmy Buffett, ‘Margaritaville’ Singer, Dies at 76 + More // Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths

Photo: Jimmy Buffett – sailing off into the sunset… | By Chris Morris, Variety | Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, whose laid-back, good-humored, often tropically-themed brand of country-laced pop spawned a lucrative one-man business empire, died Friday. He was 76. A cause of death was not immediately released.

Buffett’s death was confirmed through a statement on his official website: “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.”

Over the course of a 50-year professional career, Buffett collected just one top-10 pop hit: “Margaritaville,” a marimba-laced, tequila-soaked paean to kicking back on the beach in the aftermath of a breakup, which rose to No. 8 on the national charts.

But Buffett’s boozy, punny, often marijuana-scented variety of tropical good-time music struck an abiding chord with an army of enthusiastic fans, who dubbed themselves “parrotheads” in reference to the colorful avian headgear they sported at the musician’s sold-out concerts.

That faithful audience made Buffett a consistent record seller, even absent major radio hits. Active in the studio for five decades, he released four platinum and eight gold studio albums; his 1985 hits compilation “Songs You Know by Heart” was certified for sales of 7 million copies, while the 1992 boxed set “Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads” rang up 4 million units.

From the early ‘90s on, after establishing himself on ABC and MCA Records, Buffett released his music entrepreneurially via his Margaritaville and Mailboat imprints.

Buffett’s highly palatable variety of party-hearty music translated into a host of products, making him one of the most successful and wealthiest performers in the world. In 2016, his personal worth was estimated at $500 million.

Writing about “Margaritaville” on the 40th anniversary of the song’s release in 2017, Forbes stated that it “morphed into a global lifestyle brand that currently has more than $4.8 billion in the development pipeline and sees $1.5 billion in annual system-wide sales. This year, Margaritaville Holdings announced a partnership with Minto Communities to develop Latitude Margaritaville, new active adult communities for those ‘55 and better,’ including the $1 billion Daytona Beach, Florida location and a second in Hilton Head, South Carolina.”

The business magazine noted that the performer’s licensed brands included apparel and footwear, retail stores, restaurants, resort destinations, gaming rooms, restaurants and even a Margaritaville-branded line of beer, LandShark Lager, which was projected to shift an estimated 3.6 million cases during its first year of availability.
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Buffett is survived by his second wife Jane, their two daughters, Sarah and Savannah, and son, Cameron.
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Read the full story here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jimmy-buffett-margaritaville-singer-dies-072354351.html

[According to Jimmy’s fan page: Happy 46th anniversary to Jimmy and Jane Buffett. Married on August 27, 1977 in Redstone, Colorado.]

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RELATED ARTICLE:

Jimmy Buffett Canceled Shows for Unspecified Health Issues in the Months Before His Death

By Kimberlee Speakman
In the months leading up to his death, Jimmy Buffett faced health issues that prompted him to cancel or postpone several shows.

The “Margaritaville” singer, who died at age 76 on Friday, was hospitalized for health issues twice over the span of the past year.

In September 2022, Buffett announced on his website that he “needed to refrain from touring for the rest of the year,” citing “health issues and brief hospitalization,” which led him to cancel his shows in Salt Lake City and Nampa, Idaho, in October, and postpone shows in Las Vegas to March 2023.
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Read the rest of the story here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jimmy-buffett-canceled-shows-unspecified-155633270.html

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Surprisingly, the Late Jimmy Buffett Didn’t Drink Margaritas

By Nathan Hutsenpiller, Parade

Jimmy Buffett, the beloved American singer-songwriter who captured the hearts of beach dwellers, treasure hunters and boat captains everywhere, made a pretty sweet life around the folklore of his music. While unfortunate, his unfortunate passing at the age of 76, only further solidified the legend that he had manifested through his “5 o’clock somewhere” lifestyle. And for a man who made loads of cash off of that loose and fun lifestyle, it’s easy to assume his life had been a party up until the very end — one that included plenty of margaritas.

Despite his brief uncredited cameo in 2015’s Jurassic World, where he double-fisted margaritas while running from pterodactyls, the man who made millions off of his signature drink wasn’t exactly sipping on margaritas as the years progressed. . . .
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In exchange for the drink whose name made him millions, Buffett let the cat out of the bag that he prefers, “a good tequila and a lime.” The simple, yet refined version of a margarita seems like a fitting choice for the late singer-songwriter. It serves as a little nugget of happiness, assuring us all that even in his final days, Jimmy stayed true to his words: If life gives you lemons, make margaritas. This one’s for you, Jimmy.

Read the full story here:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/surprisingly-jimmy-buffett-didnt-drink-205124005.html

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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS

What killed Jimmy Buffett? Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare, aggressive skin cancer. It appears as a painless, flesh-colored or bluish-red nodule growing on your skin often on your face, head or neck. Merkel cell carcinoma is also called neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin.

Merkel cell carcinoma most often develops in older people. Long-term sun exposure or a weak immune system may increase your risk of developing Merkel cell carcinoma.

Merkel cell carcinoma tends to grow fast and to spread quickly to other parts of your body. Treatment options for Merkel cell carcinoma often depend on whether the cancer has spread beyond the skin.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/merkel-cell-carcinoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20351030

If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.

If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at
http://www.wikipedia.com

September 2023
5: Joe Fagin, 83, British singer (“Breakin’ Away / That’s Livin’ Alright”); Bruce Guthro, 62, Canadian singer-songwriter (Runrig); Richard Laviolette, 41, Canadian singer-songwriter, assisted suicide; Anatol Ugorski, 80, Russian-born German pianist.

4: Teté Caturla, 85, Cuban singer (Cuarteto d’Aida); Steve Harwell*, 56, American singer (Smash Mouth), liver failure; Sherali Jo’rayev, 76, Uzbek singer and actor, MP (1990–1995); Tail Dragger Jones, 82, American Chicago blues singer; Gary Wright*, 80, American singer-songwriter (“Dream Weaver”, “Love Is Alive”) and musician (Spooky Tooth), Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

3: José Sébéloué, 74, French singer and musician (La Compagnie Créole).

2: Walter Arlen, 103, Austrian-born American composer and music critic; Lefty SM, 31, Mexican rapper, shot.

1: Robert Becerra, 64, American guitarist (Stains); Jimmy Buffett*, 76, American singer-songwriter (“Margaritaville”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”) and author, founder of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Merkel-cell carcinoma; Razvan Gorcinski, 42, Romanian drummer, sepsis; Milka Stojanovic, 86, Serbian operatic soprano (National Theatre in Belgrade).

August 2023
31: Ioana Maria Lupascu, 45, Romanian pianist.

30: Jack Sonni, 68, American musician (Dire Straits), marketing executive and writer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2023

Photo: Jimmy Buffett – sailing off into the sunset | https://www.facebook.com/groups/1009729306421210/