Current:Home > ContactJimmy Buffett honored with tribute performance at CMAs by Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, more -AdvancementTrade
Jimmy Buffett honored with tribute performance at CMAs by Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, more
View
Date:2025-04-12 17:52:36
It was a celebration of Jimmy Buffet's life at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards as Kenny Chesney, Mac MacAnnally, Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson took the stage to pay tribute with a medley of the late singer's hits.
Buffett, known as the king of tropical rock, died on Sept. 1 in New York. His popular songs, like "Margaritaville," "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" and "Come Monday," encourage a beachy, easy-going lifestyle on the ocean with a drink in hand.
So it's no surprise Wednesday night's tribute during the awards show in Nashville, Tennesse, captured Buffett's enthusiasm for the tropics, with a rowdy audience that sang along to the lyrics, and chanted and hollered as colorful lights flashed onstage.
Of course, rainbow parrots and palm trees decorated the stage.
Review:Jimmy Buffett swings from fun to reflective on last album 'Equal Strain on All Parts'
Chesney and MacAnally started off their tribute with an acoustic cover of Buffett's "A Pirate Looks At Forty," both playing guitar on a smaller stage in front of the main stage.
A picture of Buffett was shown on the screen behind the stage with blue lights that washed over the performers.
"Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late / The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder," the two sang together.
More:Tracy Chapman becomes first Black woman to win CMA Award 35 years after 'Fast Car' debut
Afterward, the curtain opened up to the bigger stage behind and Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson played the classic "Margaritaville." A slideshow of Buffett played in the background, where pictures showed him grinning and sun-kissed, sitting on a sailboat.
During the celebratory performance, Zac Brown wore beachy shorts (and no shoes) in classic Buffett fashion, and Jackson rocked his sunglasses inside.
Jackson and the band sang, "Wastin' away again in Margaritaville / Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt" and the crowd chanted "Salt, salt, salt!" And as they finished out the chorus, they sang, "Some people claim that there's a woman to blame / But I know it's nobody's fault," and the audience danced and smiled, honoring Buffett with their exuberance.
CMA Awards 2023 full winners list:Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and more
Buffett died at his home in Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York, from skin cancer, according to an obituary posted to his website in September.
He had been battling Merkel cell skin cancer for four years, which the National Cancer Institute describes as a rare carcinoma which usually appears as a single painless lump on sun-exposed skin and tends to metastasize quickly. It is second to melanoma as the most common cause of skin cancer death.
He kept performing while undergoing treatment, and Buffett’s last show was a surprise 45-minute appearance at a July 2 Mac McAnally show in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he brought the crowd to its feet screaming when he walked out.
Buffett “passed away peacefully,” a statement announcing his death read, “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs."
"He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many."
'He lived his life like a song':Jimmy Buffett, 'Margaritaville' singer and mogul, dies
Contributing: Kim Willis, USA TODAY
veryGood! (98652)
Related
- 'Most Whopper
- Arizona woman, 3 North Koreans charged in 'staggering' fraud scheme that raised nearly $7M
- Indy 500 qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: How it works, when to watch, entries
- The Best Dishwasher-Safe Cookware for Effortless Cleanup
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Did a topless photo posted online lead a California IVF doctor to kill his wife?
- For decades, states have taken foster children’s federal benefits. That’s starting to change
- 2024 PGA Championship Round 3 tee times: When and how to watch third-round action Saturday
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Roth 401(k) employer matches may trigger a tax bill for you. Here's what you need to know.
Ranking
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Why does product design sometimes fail? It's complicated
- Jason Aldean honors Toby Keith with moving performance at ACM Awards
- Cassie's Husband Alex Fine Speaks Out After Sean “Diddy” Combs Appears to Assault Singer in 2016 Video
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- John Oates opens up about legal feud with Hall & Oates bandmate Daryl Hall
- Scottie Scheffler, from the course to jail and back: what to know about his PGA Championship arrest
- How powerful windstorms caused deaths and extensive damage across Houston
Recommendation
'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
Here's How to Keep Makeup Sweatproof Without Powder, According to Sabrina Carpenter's Makeup Artist
He feared coming out. Now this pastor wants to help Black churches become as welcoming as his own
NYC firefighter who collapsed in burning home likely saved by smoke inhalation drug
Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
Scheffler detained by police at PGA Championship for not following orders after traffic fatality
A man killed by Phoenix police in a shootout was a suspect in a fatal shooting hours earlier
Widespread power outages from deadly Houston storm raise new risk: hot weather