Jimmy Buffett Dead: Cause of Death Was Skin Cancer

Getty Jimmy Buffett

The cause of death for famed “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett was skin cancer, TMZ reports.

Buffett, 76, died on September 1, 2023. His cause of death was not released by his family, but the entertainment site reported that Buffett “was diagnosed with skin cancer 4 years ago that turned into lymphoma, and we’re told that was the cause of death.”

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs,” a statement posted to Buffett’s official website confirmed on the evening of September 1, 2023. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Although most famous for “Margaritaville,” Buffett also had hit songs like “Come Monday,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Volcano,” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Jimmy Buffett Had Been in Hospice Care After His Skin Cancer Diagnosis, Reports Say

GettyJimmy Buffett

A close friend told TMZ, “He lived his life in the sun, literally and figuratively.” TMZ reported that Paul McCartney came to Buffett’s home to sing for him in his final days.

According to the Associated Press, although a specific cause of death has not been released by Buffett’s team, he rescheduled concerts in May because of “illness” and had revealed on social media that he was hospitalized, without providing details.

According to TMZ, Buffett’s illness was not sudden, and he had been receiving hospice care before his death.

In May, he wrote on social media, according to CNN: “I had to stop in Boston for a check-up but wound up back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention.”

Jimmy Buffett, Who Was Born in Mississippi But Raised in a Port Town in Alabama, Was Inspired by His Grandfather’s Steamship Stories

According to his website, 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,” the website says.

“For young Jimmy, the Gulf of Mexico was the doorway to a world of adventure where the characters he heard about in his grandfather’s stories were waiting to be discovered. The siren call of exotic ports was in contrast to his days as a parochial school student and an altar boy, and it only took a guitar to take him off course from the life his parents had imagined for him,” it reads.

“When Jimmy saw how a fraternity brother in college with a guitar garnered the attention of the girls, he quickly learned a few basic chords and started playing himself. Suddenly Jimmy’s world opened up – while he still attended classes, he quickly had his first band and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing 6 nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs,” the website says.

Jimmy Buffett Leaves Behind His Wife, Jane Slagsvol & 3 Kids

GettyJimmy Buffett and Jane Slagsvol attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Buffett was married to wife Jane Slagsvol. According to Today, he also leaves behind three kids. They are son Cameron and daughters Savannah and Sarah Delaney.

Buffett first saw Slagsvol at a bar in Key West when she was a college student, according to Today, quoting him as saying that Slagsvol was wearing a “long pink dress that made a lasting impression on me.”

He gave an interview to Time Magazine in 1998. “When they’re not vagabonding around the world, Jimmy and Jane Buffett live in Palm Beach, Fla., and Sag Harbor, N.Y. They have daughters ages 19 and 6, and a son, 5,” Time wrote then.

Time quoted Slagsvol as saying, “If I didn’t force him to go out, he would be a total recluse. He is self-contained: up early, writing or fishing or boating or flying, making pancakes for the kids, driving them to school or camp, playing tennis, or working out. That’s the life he loves.”

She was his second wife.

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