Jimmy Buffett’s passing was not marked by wearing black or other mourning customs like weeping or wearing gloomy attire.
Naturally, it wasn’t.
Fans paid their respects to the 76-year-old exponent of carefree seaside rock by thronging to the restaurants owned by the Mayor of Margaritaville and lifting their glasses.
As soon as she heard on Saturday, according to Lee Jameson, she made her way to Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles County.
“We woke up, we heard the news, immediately got in the car, and headed straight to Margaritaville right when it opened,” she said at the restaurant named for Buffett’s hit song.
“It’s 11 a.m. here, but it’s five o’clock somewhere,” she added in a reference to the duet Buffett recorded with singer Alan Jackson.
According to a statement on his website, Buffett passed away quietly on Friday evening. The cause of death wasn’t disclosed right away. According to NBC News and two reliable sources, he was dying of cancer.
How Buffett’s followers, known as Parrotheads, could so casually honor the musician who gave millions of people an alternative perspective was explained by Nathan Kniffen.
“I do not think he’d want people mourning him, he’d want everyone to just kind of come out and just like live a life that he lived and just celebrate life for what it is,” she said at the Universal CityWalk restaurant, one of nearly 30 in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
According to Emma Hamrick, Kniffen and she went to one of Buffett’s final performances there.
“Looking back on it now, it’s really an incredible moment we’re going to cherish for the rest of our lives,” Hamrick said.
Patricia Lopez was among the throngs of admirers gathered at a Margaritaville Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida, the singer’s state of residence.
“All the Parrotheads today are hurting,” she told NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach.
Back at CityWalk, Buffett received one of several toasts in recognition of his life and achievements.
“Jimmy Buffett was not just an artist he was a curator of vibes,” the toast’s organizer said. “It is 5 o’clock somewhere, everyone put their fins up and toast to the king.”
