Jimmy Buffett, the singer and songwriter who built an entire empire around his hit song “Margaritaville,” passed away from a rare skin disease known as Merkel cell skin cancer four years following his diagnosis.
He passed away on September 1st at 76 years old in his Sag Harbor, New York, home surrounded by his family, friends, dogs, and music, Breitbart News previously reported.
“Buffett was one of the most successful performers in popular music,” his obituary read. “He filled arenas with fans who called themselves “Parrot Heads,” and popularized a signature blend of folk, country and Caribbean music with lyrics that often reflected Buffett’s world travels.”
While enduring cancer treatment, Buffett continued to perform concerts, and his last concert was a surprise appearance in Rhode Island this July.
“He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” the singer’s obituary stated.
His new album, Equal Strain on All Parts, is due to be released later this year.
In addition to being a two-time Grammy Award-winning artist, Buffett was a successful entrepreneur who built a chain of bars and even a resort built from the theme of his hit song “Margaritaville.” The single — released on February 14, 1977 — became the anthem for beach bums around the nation.
“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.”
He is survived by Jane, his wife of 46 years; his three children Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron; his grandson Marley; and two sisters, Laurie and Lucy. The family is asking, in lieu of flowers, for people to send donations to Buffett’s nonprofit Singing for Change, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Dana Farber Cancer Institute, or the MD Anderson Cancer Center.