Jimmy Buffett died in 2023, but as his friend Kenny Chesney just revealed, the songwriter was very much present at his posthumous induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October 2024.
The singer behind hits like “Come Monday” and “Margaritaville,” Buffett passed away in September 2023 of skin cancer, at age 76. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see the day he was honored for his achievements in music.
Beyond selling millions of album, Buffett pioneered the Gulf and Western music genre, with its laid back, country-leaning style. In the process, he built a fiercely loyal fanbase of Parrotheads through his escape-themed songs and concerts, all of which led to his Rock Hall induction.
To mark the occasion, Chesney along with fellow Buffett pals James Taylor and Mac McAnally performed “Come Monday” in tribute to their friend. What no one in the audience knew was that a bit of Buffett had been smuggled into the celebration in McAnally’s pocket.
The country star managed to take some of Buffett’s ashes — courtesy of Buffett’s daughter Savannah — and bring them along for the show, as Chesney explained to Howard Stern on December 2.
“We were backstage, we were sitting back there warming up, trying to figure out our parts and stuff, and Mac comes up to me and he goes, ‘Look at this,’” Chesney said. “And it was a small urn, and he had Jimmy’s ashes in his coat pocket.
“Swear to god, Jimmy’s ashes were in Mac McAnally’s coat pocket onstage with us as he was getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“So even after he passed, Jimmy found a way to join the party. You know, it was really, really interesting knowing that and it was just a heavy moment.”
After years of struggling in Nashville, Buffett turned his career around in 1977 with “Margaritaville,” a tune he wrote about a particularly bad day at the beach. Although his producer declared, “That's a terrible idea for a song,” Buffett went ahead and wrote it, using his Martin D-28 acoustic. The song's lyric about a “painted lady” was actually a reference to a mermaid illustration that landscape painter Russell Chatham had applied to the guitar at Buffett’s request.
