There, the warm weather and leisure lifestyle inspired him to adopt a persona based around hard drinking and easy living, and a tropical rock sound full of steel drums and pedal steel guitars. A befitting one of the most popular touring acts in America for decades, Buffett’s fans, the ‘Parrotheads,’ dutifully followed him around the country, singing along with ‘70s soft rock anthems like “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” while kicking back on the lawn with family and friends.īorn in Mississippi and raised in Alabama, Buffett tried his hand at conventional country stardom in Nashville before moving in 1972 to Key West, Fla.

Despite a business empire that included restaurant chains, best-selling novels, and real estate, Buffett never stopped making the Caribbean-flavored “gulf and western” country music which made him a household name.

In April, Forbes estimated Jimmy Buffett’s net worth at $1 billion, making him one of the richest musicians in the world.

Paul McCartney Remembers Jimmy Buffett: 'A Very Special Man'

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