Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett has died, leaving behind a special connection to the Lone Star State thanks to his breakthrough 1997 hit single.
According to Syracuse University pop culture professor Robert Thompson, Margaritaville is more than just a song.
“Jimmy Buffett will forever be associated with one thing and one song, ‘Margaritaville.’ It’s all over the place. It’s a state of mind. It’s a lifestyle,” Thompson said.
Buffett was actually in Austin, Texas, when the inspiration struck for “Margaritaville,” Thompson shared.
He and a friend had stopped for lunch and got to drinking margaritas at a Mexican restaurant before she dropped him off at the airport for a flight home to Key West.
The man behind Margaritaville’s billion-dollar empire had a career that spanned more than fifty years.
According to statements posted to his official website and social media channels, he was “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.”
Buffett died from Merkel cell skin cancer, which he was diagnosed with four years ago, according to an obituary shared on his website.