World / Music

US musician Jimmy Buffett, best known for his hit song 'Margaritaville', dies aged 76

20:07 pm on 2 September 2023

Singer songwriter Jimmy Buffett performs "Son of a Sailor" during a memorial service for CBS newsman Walter Cronkite at the Lincoln Center in New York City, NY, 9 September, 2009. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP

US singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, best known for his hit songs 'Margaritaville' and 'Come Monday', has died aged 76.

Buffett died on Friday "surrounded by his family, friends music and dogs", according to a post on social media platform X.

"He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many," the post read.

The news was also on his official website.

Buffett was a little-known singer songwriter when, after a rough night in Texas, he had a margarita at a bar.

Still sipping, he started scribbling a song on a cocktail napkin about "wastin' away again in Margaritaville".

By 1977, that song was a top 10 hit and has since become a pop culture staple.

Margaritaville is also the namesake of a chain of businesses and products - including books, restaurants, a radio channel, a cruise line and 55-and-older living communities - that Buffett oversaw.

Buffett was also due to release a new album this year.

- This story was first published by the ABC