Margaritaville’s Jimmy Buffett dies at age 76

Jimmy Buffett celebrated slackers before the word existed, even though he was hardly one himself.

“Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville” went the chorus to his most famous song, Margaritaville, which became an international singalong. But Buffett was actually an astute, ambitious, aggressive businessman.

A statement posted to Buffett’s official website and social media pages announced his passing on Friday at age 76.

The statement did not say where Buffett died or give a cause. He rescheduled concerts in May and acknowledged he had been hospitalised for an unspecified illness.

Buffett built an empire based largely on Caribbean-flavoured pop and his name became synonymous with a laid-back subtropical party vibe, and his fans were known as Parrotheads.

But behind the laid-back exterior, Buffett was an admitted workaholic. At one time, his estimated annual income was more than US$40 million, and his revenue sources extended far beyond a musician’s typical business model of album sales, concert tickets and souvenir T-shirts.

Buffett, who also wrote best-selling novels, landed at No. 18 in Forbes’ list of the Richest Celebrities of All Time with a net worth of US$1 billion.

The title of Buffett’s most popular song showed up on restaurants, clothing, booze and casinos. He became involved in such products as Landshark Lager, the Cheeseburger in Paradise and Margaritaville restaurant chains, boat shoes, salsa, hummus, tortillas, dips, tequila and blenders.

“I’m not about to apologise for being a good businessman,” Buffett told The Washington Post in 1998. “Too many people in music have ruined their lives because they weren’t. I’m not a great singer, and I’m only a so-so guitar player. I started running the band years ago because nobody else could, and I turned out to be good at this stuff. There’s never been any grand plan to this thing. I’m making it up as I go along.”

His death created shockwaves throughout the Margaritaville family in the Caribbean.

Margaritaville managing director and co-founder Ian Dear said he was floored by the news.

“It’s a very emotional day. The world has lost a great human being who has left us with a rich legacy,” Dear told The Sunday Gleaner.

Dear met Buffett 26 years ago and after their second meeting, he said they became friends. “Out of everything he has done, he loves Jamaica. He was an amazing person, who was engaging, and lived everything that he projected.”

He would spend many birthdays in Jamaica, Dear reminisced.

“He loved what we stood for and we loved what he stood for.”

Regardless of his commercial achievements, Buffett’s legacy will be, in his words, “helping people forget their troubles for a couple of hours.”

The singer told the Baltimore Sun in 1999 that his optimistic view of life brought fans to the humour and escapism in his work. And that was okay, because there already was enough serious material in the world.

“I was the life of the party,” Buffett said.

– Part reporting from The Associated Press.