December 25, 1946—September 1, 2023

Although he never graduated from Auburn University, the beloved singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett was long associated with the Plains, having enrolled at Auburn in Fall of 1964. With his distinct mixture of folk, Caribbean-tinged country and songwriter sensibilities, Buffett built an incredibly successful 50-year music career that sold out arenas and endeared him to legions of fans, called “Parrot Heads.”

Born on Christmas 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Buffett grew up in Mobile, Alabama. After moving to New Orleans, Nashville and then to Key West in 1971, Buffet release a string of albums in that decade that would contain some of his biggest hits, including “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”

In April of 1979, Buffett returned to play Auburn for the first time. Never one to take himself too seriously, he told the audience of almost 6,000 “I left here with a .32 [GPA] overall and I haven’t been back since.” He would perform numerous shows in the ’80s and ’90s on campus, where seeing him play became almost a rite of passage for Auburn students.

Buffett also had a successful career as an author, publishing a number one bestseller on the fiction and nonfiction lists of the New York Time Review of Books. A shrewd businessman, he set up a string of Margaritaville-themed shops, restaurants and cafes across the country before expanding into resort complexes, clothing, a radio station, soft drinks, beer and even home furnishings. At his height, Buffett employed thousands of workers and had a net worth that Forbes estimated at close to $1 billion.

For a man that sang about the lazy pleasures of lounging on a beach or taking a boat on the water, he was incredibly productive, touring constantly and releasing more than 50 albums during his career. He was working on one final album when he passed away.

He is survived by his second wife, Jane, whom he married in 1967, and their children, Savannah, Delaney and Cameron.