Celebrated singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett has passed away. Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs after a four year battle with Merkel Cell Skin Cancer. He was 76.
Buffett was born on Christmas day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi and raised in the port town of Mobile, Alabama.
His grandfather, James Delaney Buffett, was a captain on a steamship and his father J.D. traveled to India and Africa with the Army Corps of Engineers before settling in Mobile.
He started his first band, playing in New Orleans at Bourbon Street clubs while attending classes.
According to his formal site bio, after graduation, Jimmy headed to Nashville to work for Billboard Magazine and to try his luck as a folk-country singer, releasing his first record, “Down To Earth” in 1970. However it was a fateful trip to Key West, Florida with Jerry Jeff Walker in 1971 that would give Jimmy the inspiration to merge his musicality, wanderlust and storytelling.
His hit “Margaritaville” came in 1977. The song spent 22 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at number 8. It catapulted Jimmy to national fame.
Jimmy released 27 studio albums, New York Times bestselling books, a Broadway play, made numerous movie and television appearances, and earned Grammy nominations and Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards.
