Jimmy Buffett voted the ‘Most Famous Floridian,’ here’s a look back at his ties to the state

Florida has a long history of attracting the rich, talented and famous, while producing some legends and icons itself. But which Florida-loving celebrity is the most famous of them all? According to five rounds of polling, it’s Mr. Margaritaville himself, the late, great Jimmy Buffett.

The USA TODAY Network-Florida kicked off our search for the most famous Floridian on Aug. 27. And as of Sept. 30, we have a winner after five rounds of voting.

The first poll asked readers to select 50 celebrities from a non-exhaustive, staff-created list of 150 of the most famous Floridians and celebrities with ties to the state. The list was wide-ranging, covering living legends, deceased icons, Florida natives, “honorary” Floridians, celebs whose lives or careers have impacted the state’s culture, and even some who owned second or third homes here for years.

Over the last five weeks, that list was narrowed down to just one person, who earned the reader-voted title of “Most Famous Floridian,” the late Jimmy Buffett, who lived in the state and was inspired to write many of his famous songs here.

To celebrate Jimmy Buffett’s selection as the “Most Famous Floridian,” here’s a quick look back at his lifelong love affair with the state, and which other celebrities made the top 10 list.

Buffett wasn’t born in Florida. Here’s where his story started

Despite what many think, Jimmy Buffett wasn’t a native Floridian. The late singer was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Christmas Day 1946, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.

He took up music while attending Auburn University in Alabama, but flunked out due to his party lifestyle. According to the Fort Myers News-Press, he eventually graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

He soon started playing professionally in Nashville and worked as a stringer (a writer who is typically paid by the story) for Billboard magazine for a short period. He also married his first wife, Margie Washichek, in 1969 in Tennessee.

He married his second wife, Jane Slagsvol, whom he was married to when he died in 2023, eight years later in 1977. He and Jane reportedly met in 1971 in Key West, Florida.

Remembering Jimmy Buffett: Jimmy Buffett’s career in photos

When was Jimmy Buffett first introduced to Florida?

Florida Gov. Bob Graham presenting an A1A sign to Jimmy Buffett, circa 1980.

So how did Buffett find himself in Florida? While his music was not taking off in Nashville, he found his calling elsewhere — in the Florida Keys.

According to the official Key West Margaritaville website, Buffett was first introduced to the Keys in 1971, when visiting his singer-songwriter friend, Jerry Jeff Walker, in Coconut Grove. According to the website, Walker offered Buffett “refuge” since he was down on his luck after ending his marriage and not getting any offers for his music.

“After a week or two of Florida-orientation, they piled into ‘Flying Lady,’ Jerry Jeff’s elegant silver and maroon ’47 Packard sedan, for a drive southward. Jimmy Buffett had never before seen the Florida Keys,” the website says.

“Key West was an outpost over 100 miles from our mainland – closer to Cuba than to Florida – a place of fascinating history and charm, dependent upon the ocean for much of its income yet subject to the whims of weather and the perils of change. Jimmy’s discovery of the island meant everything to the man.”

He soon moved to the Keys full-time and worked on a fishing boat during the day, while playing throughout the town’s streets at night.

Why did Jimmy Buffett relocate to Florida? Here’s where singer settled in state

According to his website, that trip to the Keys changed his life and, in turn, the lives of countless others. Once he moved to Florida, he fully embraced the Key West lifestyle — both in his songs and his casual uniform of Hawaiian shirts, shorts and flip-flops.

Corey Malcom, lead historian in the Monroe County Library’s Florida Keys History Center, wrote about one of Buffett’s first concerts in Key West, playing at Crazy Ophelia’s when he was 25 years old. This performance received much praise and led to more gigs around town.

The Florida Division of Arts further shares that his songwriting blossomed, and he penned several of his most iconic hits while residing in the state.

The singer enjoyed living part-time in Palm Beach since the 1970s. Buffett had been a staple of the South Florida community, owning a home in the Eden Properties neighborhood and dining at several local restaurants.

Buffett once told The Palm Beach Post about living in Palm Beach: “No one bothers me. It’s amazing. I’m not on television, and that’s the big difference. I can walk around with shocking anonymity. People don’t know who I am. I went to Disney World walking around the other day and was stopped twice.”

Jimmy Buffett and his wife, Jane, bought and sold several homes and properties in and around Palm Beach and the Florida Keys through the years, accumulating a robust Florida real estate portfolio. When Buffett died in September 2023, he left three homes in Palm Beach, all of which have since been sold.

More about Buffett’s Palm Beach homes: Jimmy Buffett’s second historic Palm Beach home sells for $4.795 million

‘Margaritaville’ is inspired by Jimmy Buffett’s time in Key West

“Margaritaville,” released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those ”wastin’ away,” an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those “growing older, but not up.”

According to an interview with “60 Minutes,” Buffett never expected the song to gain the popularity it did. He has shared that he wrote the hit song while getting margaritas with a friend before flying back to the Keys.

“It was a hot day,” the singer told the Arizona Republic in 2021. “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.”

What is Margaritaville? Is it in Florida?

Patrons enter the Original Margaritaville Store on Duval Street. Jimmy Buffett finished the hit song in Key West, which is said to hold a special place in his heart.

Buffett’s personal brand began expanding in 1985, with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed by the first Margaritaville Café in 1987. The brand has since expanded into dozens of categories, including resorts, restaurants, food items, apparel, and even cruise lines.

But where, exactly, is Margaritaville? Just like in the song, it is inspired by Florida.

“There was no such place as Margaritaville,” Buffett once told The Arizona 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.”

‘Live out a Jimmy Buffett song’ at these 10 places in Florida

If you want to “go where it’s warm” to celebrate our most famous Floridian properly and live out his lyrics, there are plenty of Margaritaville-like places in the Sunshine State. After all, the song’s inspiration came from days spent along Florida’s beaches.

From the streets of Key West to the harbors of Apalachicola, here are USA Today’s 10 Best spots in Florida to “live out a Jimmy Buffett song”:

“Stranded on a sandbar” — Cayo Costa
“But there’s this one particular harbor” — Apalachicola
“I’ve got to fly to Saint Somewhere” — St. Augustine
“Got to stop wishing, got to go fishing” — Destin
“It’s five o’clock somewhere” — Jupiter
“Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville” — Fort Myers Beach
“There’s a woman goin’ crazy on Caroline Street” — Key West
“You got fins to the left, fins to the right” — Orlando
“Strollin’ down the avenue that’s known as A1A” — Vero Beach
“Hey Mr. Spaceman, won’t you please take me along. I won’t do anything wrong.” — Space Coast

Honorable mention: Jimmy Buffett is featured on the 2003 Alan Jackson hit song “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere” and the music video was filmed at a waterfront Florida bar, The Square Grouper in Jupiter, Florida.