Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett had a laid-back, good-humoured, often tropically-themed brand of country-laced pop spawned a lucrative one-man business empire. 

Buffett had been fighting Merkel cell skin cancer for four years, a statement revealed on his official website. Buffett’s death was confirmed through a statement on his official website:

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs. He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many. He continued to perform during treatment, playing his last show, a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July.”

Over the course of a 50-year professional career, Buffett collected just one top-10 pop hit: “Margaritaville,” a marimba-laced, tequila-soaked paean to kicking back on the beach in the aftermath of a breakup, which rose to No. 8 on the national charts. But Buffett’s boozy, punny, often marijuana-scented variety of tropical good-time music struck an abiding chord with an army of enthusiastic fans, who dubbed themselves “parrotheads” in reference to the colourful avian headgear they sported at the musician’s sold-out concerts.

That faithful audience made Buffett a consistent record seller, even absent major radio hits. Active in the studio for five decades, he released four platinum and eight gold studio albums; his 1985 hits compilation “Songs You Know by Heart” was certified for sales of 7 million copies, while the 1992 boxed set “Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads” rang up 4 million units.

From the early ‘90s on, after establishing himself on ABC and MCA Records, Buffett released his music entrepreneurially via his Margaritaville and Mailboat imprints.