Jimmy Buffett Day: 10 things you need to know about Florida's trop-rock icon

You probably can't think "Jimmy Buffett" without thinking "Florida."

From his flip-flops and Hawaiian shirts to his laid-back songs about beach bums and fruity drinks, the late singer-songwriter is practically synonymous with the Sunshine State.

That's why the Florida Legislature designated Friday, Aug. 30, as Jimmy Buffett Day. Concerts and other events are happening all over Florida to celebrate the trop-rock icon behind breezy hits such as "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "A Pirate Looks At Forty" and the immortal "Margaritaville."

To mark that special day, here are 10 fun facts about the late, great Buffett — from where Parrotheads got their name to how he wrote "Margaritaville" while stuck on the Florida Keys' Seven Mile Bridge.

Jimmy Buffett Day celebrated in Florida, a year after his death

The Florida House of Representatives created Jimmy Buffett Day with House Resolution 8065. The Florida Legislature adopted it Feb. 22.

The resolution decrees that Jimmy Buffett Day will take place Friday, Aug. 30. That's almost a year — minus two days — after Buffett's death on Sept. 1, 2023.

"Jimmy Buffett honed his art as a singer-songwriter in the bars of Key West," the resolution states, "and the laid-back island lifestyle of the Florida Keys was the foundation on which he built his signature tropical rock sound."

The resolution cites many of Buffett's hits, including "Grapefruit ― Juicy Fruit" (the proceeds from which he used to buy his first boat), "Come Monday," "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

It also mentions Buffett's casinos, resorts, restaurants, bestselling books and beer brand LandShark Lager, along with his support for environmental causes. That includes co-founding the Save the Manatee Club with former Gov. Bob Graham in 1981.

The resolution ends by saying this about the late Florida superstar: "August 30, 2024, is recognized as 'Jimmy Buffett Day' in Florida to celebrate the life and music of Jimmy Buffett, whose free-spirited life and significant contributions to national and state culture are commended and celebrated."

Jimmy Buffett events:Florida's new Jimmy Buffett Day keeps the party going in N. Fort Myers, Naples, FM Beach

Jimmy Buffett's beginnings

Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and grew up in the Gulf Coast town of Mobile, Alabama.

He took up music while attending Alabama's Auburn University. “I picked up the guitar in college to meet girls,” he told Forbes.

The fun-loving Buffett flunked out of Auburn, but he eventually graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He started playing professionally in Nashville and worked briefly there as a stringer for Billboard magazine.

The Florida Keys: Jimmy Buffett's muse

Buffett's musical career wasn't going anywhere in Nashville, but he soon found inspiration — and huge success — after moving to Key West in 1972.  He embraced the Key West lifestyle in both his songs and his casual Florida clothing, including Hawaiian shirts, cut-off shorts and flip-flips.

Buffett first saw the Florida Keys while visiting his singer-songwriter friend, Jerry Jeff Walker, in Coconut Grove. After moving to Key West, he'd work on a fishing boat during the day and play the town's streets and bars at night. 

'Margaritaville' was a mega-moneymaker

Buffett's iconic "Margaritaville" is often called the most lucrative song ever written. In addition to being Buffett's signature tune, it also lends its name to restaurants, resorts, casinos, clubs and retirement communities all over the world. You can also buy "Margaritaville"-branded shirts, salt shakers, flip-flops, tequila, margarita mix and more.

When Buffett died Sept. 1, 2023, at his home on Sag Harbor in Long Island, New York, his net worth was estimated to be $1 billion, according to Forbes. He was 76.

Trop-rock or Gulf and Western music?

Buffett's musical genre is often called trop-rock, but the musician himself preferred "Gulf and Western." In the '70s, he also called it “drunken Caribbean rock ‘n’ roll."

His songs are hard to categorize and draw from pop, rock, folk, country and Caribbean music.

Writing 'Margaritaville'

Buffett never thought "Margaritaville" would be his signature song — or a hit at all. It was "just another song going on the album," he told "60 Minutes." "Never in my wildest dream did I ever think it would do what it did. "Never.”

Buffett was eating lunch and about to fly home to Key West when inspiration struck. He and a friend were drinking margaritas at a Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas.

"It was a hot day," the singer told the Arizona Republic. "And they were damn good margaritas. … And I kind of came up with that idea of this is just like Margarita-ville. She kind of laughed at that and put me on the plane. And I started working on it.”

He wrote some of the song on the plane and finished it while driving through the Keys. “There was a wreck on the bridge,” he said. “And we got stopped for about an hour, so I finished the song on the Seven Mile Bridge, which I thought was apropos.”

The song wouldn't exist without Buffett's experiences in the Sunshine State. And it — along with many other Buffett tunes — celebrated and mythologized the Florida lifestyle.

"There was no such place as Margaritaville," he told the Republic. "It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach."

Parrotheads: Jimmy Buffett's biggest fans

Buffett's adoring fans eventually became known as "parrotheads." Bassist Timothy B. Schmit of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band coined the term in 1985.

“People had already started wearing Hawaiian shirts to our shows, but we looked out at this Cincinnati crowd and they were glaringly brilliant to the point where it got our attention immediately,” Buffett told fan site BuffetNews.com. “I said ‘Look at that!’ Then Schmit says to me, ‘They look like Deadheads in tropical suits. They’re like Parrotheads!’”

Parrotheads often showed up at their concerts in Hawaiian shirts, swimsuits, shark-fin hats, feathered headdresses and grass skirts. They'd tailgate in the parking lot, sip frozen margaritas and eat jerk chicken. Some even brought giant sandboxes to make their own beach.

Now there are more than 230 Parrothead Club chapters in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including ones in Naples and the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area. The club has raised more than $19 million for various charities since 2009.

Jimmy Buffett's concerts let fans get 'drunk and boisterous'

Buffett's concerts were known for their good vibes and party-hearty atmosphere. And that included the audiences, too.

“There are people out there looking for a good time for a few days a year,” Buffett told Rolling Stone in 1996. “We come to town and we’re the carnival or the Mardi Gras.

"People blow off steam and then go back and become basically law-abiding citizens. But to see them on those two days, you’d go, ‘My God, this is the most drunk and boisterous maniac crowd you ever saw!’”

The Coral Reefer Band: Paul McCartney, Roy Orbison and other big guests

Buffett's Coral Reefer Band started out as an imaginary band with funny musician names like Al Vacado, Kitty Litter and Kay Pasa. But he eventually needed a real band with real musicians.

The Coral Reefer Band (the real one) started toured with him in 1974. The rotating lineup often featured special guests and honorary Coral Reefers, including Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison and even wrestler Ric Flair — who once provided "background woos" during a concert.

Critics didn't always love Jimmy Buffett's music

Critics generally gave Buffett's albums mixed reviews — and some were downright scathing.

In its review of 1977's "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes"— the hit album with the song "Margaritaville" — Rolling Stone magazine described it as containing the "occasional clever line and a lot of self-pitying drinking songs." And the review got worse: "Norbert Putnam's overwrought production and arrangements milk each number of its potential charm, emotion or, for that matter, sh**-kicking impact."

Still, Buffett eventually scored two Grammy nominations — but never a Grammy Award — and he won two Academy of Country Music Awards and a Country Music Association Award. So others obviously loved his music.

And what the critics didn't always get, Buffett's fans certainly did. It was all about having fun and escaping the real world — at least for a little while.

“It’s pure escapism is all it is,” Buffett told the Arizona Republic. “I’m not the first one to do it, nor shall I probably be the last. But I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun."

— SOURCES: Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville , Florida Division of Arts & Culture, Washington Post, Arizona Republic, Rolling Stone, Variety, USA Today, Buffett News, CBS News and Forbes.

— Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him atcrunnells@gannett.com.

Follow or message him on social media: Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).