Jimmy Buffet: What You May Not Know About the Music Legend’s Life

Source: Sun Sentinel

After he graduated from college, Jimmy married Margie Washichek and moved to New Orleans and played on the sidewalk of Decatur Street for people and later in the Bayou Room nightclub on Bourbon Street. 

He wanted to be a country music singer, so the next year, he moved to Nashville to try out his luck there. During the time that he was trying to get his music career off the ground, he also worked as a journalist for Billboard.

After only a year, Jimmy Buffet released his country-folk-rock album called Down to Earth. However, it was not successful and only sold 324 copies.

By 1971, he was hired by the Nashville club, Exit/In, as the opening act for another recording artist. But he wasn’t happy with the climate in Nashville, and his marriage was on the rocks. His marriage to Margie ended in 1972. 

Around this time, Jimmy went to Key West on a busking expedition with a friend. He liked it down there so much that he decided to move there about six months later.

In 1973, he signed a recording contract with ABC/Dunhill Records. The record company marketed him as a “replacement” for Jim Croce after he died in a plane crash.

His first album with ABC/Dunhill Records was entitled, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. After finally having a bit of success, he bought his first boat with the money he made from that album.

Source: ATT Yahoo

While living in Key West, he met his second wife (and last), Jane Slagsvol, who was a student at the University of South Carolina at the time and on her spring break. They got married in 1977, and the Eagles played at their wedding because Jimmy was their opening act in 1975. 

He and Jane had two daughters, Savannah (born in 1979) and Sarah (born in 1992). They also adopted a son, Cameron, who was born in 1994. 

In the early 1980s, his wife Jane had a big party streak in her, so they separated early that decade. However, after she got sober, they reconciled in 1991.

The album, Havana Daydreamin’, was released in 1976, and in January 1977, one of his most famous songs, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” was released. That album also had his signature song, “Margaritaville,” which he claims he wrote in only six minutes. The song ultimately led to a boost in tourism to Key West because it was so popular.

Since 1977, “Margaritaville” has become sort of an anthem for happy hours and partying worldwide. His fans even called themselves “Parrot Heads” because they loved him so much. 

The name Parrot Head may not sound very flattering, but the name has stuck with his followers ever since the summer of 1985. During a concert at the Timberwolf Amphitheater in Cincinnati, Ohio, many of the audience members were not only dressed in tropical attire with flowers and leis around their necks, but they also had inflatable parrots on their heads. He proudly claimed the fans weren’t a bunch of “dead heads” (referring to the followers of the Grateful Dead), but rather they were “parrot heads.” From there, the name stuck for decades.

Source: Country Now

Since 1985, the Parrothead identity has grown beyond even Jimmy’s concerts – and even beyond Jimmy himself. The “Margaritaville” culture and wanting to lead a laid-back lifestyle of being friendly and having fun has expanded into a way of life that is more than just about his music. 

That same year (1985), he opened up his first successful “Margaritaville” retail store in Key West after one failed in Gulf Shores, Alabama. In 2002, he expanded his business ventures by partnering with Outback Steakhouse to develop the first Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant in Southport, Indiana. 

Since then, the “Margaritaville” phenomenon has gone on to expand immensely. Jimmy’s legacy now has vacation clubs, hotels, casinos, cruise ships, and even a retirement village in Daytona Beach, Florida. Who would have thought that one little song that he wrote in six minutes would generate such an empire?

In his life, Jimmy Buffett released over 30 albums. Eight are certified gold, and nine are platinum or multi-platinum. Overall, he sold 20 million albums in his lifetime. He was considered one of the world’s richest musicians with a net worth of over $1 billion.

Jimmy Buffett passed away on September 1, 2023, at the age of 76 in his home in New York due to complications of Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer. He had been diagnosed with it four years earlier. He continued to perform during his treatments. His last show took place in July 2023 during a surprise appearance in Rhode Island.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Jane, his two daughters, Savannah and Sarah, his son Cameron, two sisters, Laurie and Lucy, his grandson Marley, and many pets.

According to his family, his last words were, “Have fun!” which were spoken to his sister.

Jimmy, we hope you’re having fun in the other-worldly paradise with a cheeseburger in one hand, and a margarita in the other. Thanks for the music and the memories. You brought a lot of happiness to Parrotheads all over the world.