Jimmy Buffett

Submission 15

About

Jimmy Buffett was an American singer-songwriter known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. After his death on September 2023, his fans have taken to X, TikTok and Instagram to mourn the "Margaritaville" legend, by posting memes and clips of the singer in diferent situations.

Career

Jimmy Buffett was born on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He began playing the guitar during his first year at Auburn University after seeing a fraternity brother playing while surrounded by a group of girls^[1]. His musical career started in Nashville, Tennessee, during the late 1960s as a country artist and recorded his first album "Down to Earth", in 1970.

His breakthrough hit song "Margaritaville"^[2] was released on February, 14th, 1977, and posted on December 30th, 2009, which amassed over 6.5 million views and 40,000 likes in 14 years. (shown below)

Buffett opened a "Margaritaville" retail store in Key West, and in 1987, he opened the Margaritaville Cafe.

Online History

As news of Buffett's death spread across social media, videos and memes featuring the singer started to be posted paying tribute to his most famous songs -- and, in some cases, cameous in movies. For example, several TikTok and X accounts resurfaced footage of Buffett in 2015's "Jurassic World." X^[3] user @KatiePZim posted a GIF of the singer's cameo (shown below), which garnered over 7.2 million views and 127,000 likes in a day.

On September 2nd, 2023, American singer Pitbull posted a video on TIkTok^[4] singing alongside Buffett (shown below, left), which amassed more than 586,000 plays and 148,000 likes in a day. TikToker^[5] @avaschoch uploaded a video on the same day, showing how much his family's house is decorated with Buffett's restaurant products. The video received over 2 million plays and 329,000 likes in a day.