Posted on 09/02/2023 6:41:10 PM PDT by Morgana
Legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who epitomized beach-bum escapism with his hit 'Margaritaville' and turned the song that celebrated loafing into a billion-dollar business empire, has died. He was 76.
'Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,' a statement posted to Buffett's official website and social media pages said. 'He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.'
Buffett died after being diagnosed with skin cancer four years ago, a source told TMZ. He entered a hospice on Monday and had been visited by Paul McCartney at his home a week ago, with the former Beatle singing to Buffett and his family.
From humble beginnings as an admitted small-time marijuana smuggler in Key West, Buffett built a sprawling business empire based on his Caribbean-flavored soft rock that celebrated the Florida Keys, sunshine and nightlife.
His name became synonymous with a laid-back subtropical party vibe, and his legions of loyal fans, known as ParrotHeads, flocked to his restaurants, resorts and concerts. At his death, Buffet had a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I admire someone who can create a billion dollar net worth based on songs and a lifestyle.
Yeah, I was lucky to gravitate toward tunes that helped keep me off bad roads. Even if some were a bit hypocritical, perhaps.
“That Smell” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a GREAT tune. As is “Hand of Doom” by Black Sabbath.
Others were great but less known. Russ Ballard’s “Dream On” (totally different song from Aerosmith’s) had me driving home many a night with my fist in the air when it gets to “You let these words ring out!” ;-)
I thought the intent of Margaritaville was to convey the idea of finally coming clean about a failed relationship - not so much beach escapism. It seems to highlight humanity’s propensity to deny guilt and blame for the wrongs we do. Catchy tune or no, I think that’s part of its appeal. Just my 2 cents worth.
If you’re wasting your time wondering about stuff like that, you might want to consider getting out more.
“””From humble beginnings as an admitted small-time marijuana smuggler in Key West, Buffett built a sprawling business empire based on his Caribbean-flavored soft rock that celebrated the Florida Keys, sunshine and nightlife.
His name became synonymous with a laid-back subtropical party vibe, and his legions of loyal fans, known as ParrotHeads, flocked to his restaurants, resorts and concerts. At his death, Buffet had a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes.”””
A lot of people don’t realize how much help in starting fortune building the untaxed cash from small-time drug dealing could give.
In the 60s and 70s guys with cash could buy low-end real estate, start little restaurants, buy a buddy’s bar and then other struggling bars and businesses, or start little companies like pool cleaning or roofing, and buy heavy equipment or trucks, boats, or whatever.
I remember a normal Joe with a beater car who had to get a job because he needed to have some excuse for why he could buy so many cheap rental houses which at that point was all he knew how to do, he had shoe boxes of cash that he hadn’t figured out how to invest since he was just a young stoner without a plan, the untaxed cash was just an abundant windfall from what was basically just the way he liked to get high and live.
A man with a boat and a business plan could have fun and become a billionaire without ever leaving the beach life as long as he made enough untaxed seed money in his youth to start off the permanent legit cash flow for his future growth.
Not quite. The strangest thing happened.
His skin cancer became lymphoma.
https://jcp.bmj.com/content/63/9/777
Lymphoma occurring in patients with cutaneous melanoma
This is the guy that thought so much of himself that he required proof of “vaccination” to attend his concerts.
Now he is masking his life away in Covividaville.
At least he didn't die of Covid. Coincidental I am sure.
A journalist once asked a chief accountant how much John D. Rockefeller left behind when he died.
The answer was, “All of it.”
Same answer for Jimmy Buffet.
As someone who just had two patches of skin cancer removed from my face, the lyric should have been...
“All of those tourists covered with SPF 50”
But not as catchy I guess.
BTW, I had been doing “routine maintenance” with a dermatologist by having small suspicious things frozen off my face every year. Then “to protect my health”, because I might get a virus, I was denied that treatment for a couple of years. This lack of treatment caused what should have been a little problem to escalate into a big problem.
So glad the gov’t was there to protect my heatlh.
“I admire someone who can create a billion dollar net worth based on songs and a lifestyle.”
You mean like Gangsta Rap?
I’ll give that a try.
“Castles in the Air”
I think” Come Monday” was a better song, very sweet and tuneful.
Not to worry. By the time I finished typing the sentence, I had stopped wondering, since I have other things to do. I hope he was ready to meet his Maker and is now singing praises to Him. :) No more wasting away anywhere!
Hope he found that “One Particular Harbor”!
I was in Margaritaville in Key West when a non-Buffett song came on the speakers. That was the Bat Signal that Jimmy was in the house. I looked over and he was eating on a 4 top in the corner. He didn’t like to listen to him doing his music. Later, we met him upstairs.
I found it ironic that despite his image as a laid-back beach bum in a sailboat, he was a workaholic.
Yikes 😳
Yep, the song itself didn’t glorify the lifestyle at all, it basically was the equivalent of a guy “living in a van down by the river”.
Sure it glorified that lifestyle. I wrote that comment poorly (and at 5 AM). I just think the bigger message, at least for me was admitting guilt. It took him the whole song to get there. A van down by the river would be a different setting but could deal with the same topic. And I’ve always liked the song and I don’t drink margaritas 😄
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