Florida has a long history of attracting the\u00a0rich<\/a>,\u00a0talented<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0famous<\/a>, while producing some\u00a0legends and icons<\/a>\u00a0itself. 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The first poll asked readers to select 50 celebrities<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Despite what many think, Jimmy Buffett wasn’t a\u00a0native Floridian<\/a>. The late singer was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Christmas Day 1946, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.<\/p>\n He took up music while\u00a0attending Auburn University <\/a>in Alabama,\u00a0but 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.<\/p>\n 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,\u00a0in 1969 in Tennessee.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Remembering Jimmy Buffett: <\/strong>Jimmy Buffett’s career in photos<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Florida Gov. Bob Graham presenting an A1A sign to Jimmy Buffett, circa 1980.<\/p>\n So how did Buffett find himself in Florida? While his music was not taking off in Nashville, he found his calling elsewhere \u2014 in the Florida Keys.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 both in his songs and his casual uniform of Hawaiian shirts, shorts and flip-flops.<\/p>\n Corey Malcom, lead historian in the Monroe County Library\u2019s Florida Keys History Center, wrote about one of Buffett’s first concerts in Key West,\u00a0playing at Crazy Ophelia\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0when he was 25 years old.<\/span> This performance received much praise and led to more gigs around town.<\/p>\n The Florida Division of Arts further shares that his\u00a0songwriting blossomed<\/a>,\u00a0and he penned several of his most iconic hits while residing in the state.<\/p>\n The singer enjoyed living part-time in Palm Beach<\/a>\u00a0since 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.<\/p>\n Buffett once told The Palm Beach Post about\u00a0living in Palm Beach<\/a>: \u201cNo one bothers me. It\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m not on television, and that\u2019s the big difference. I can walk around with shocking anonymity. People don\u2019t know who I am. I went to Disney World walking around the other day and was stopped twice.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n More about Buffett’s Palm Beach homes: <\/strong>Jimmy Buffett’s second historic Palm Beach home sells for $4.795 million<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMargaritaville,\u201d released on Feb. 14, 1977, quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind for those \u201dwastin\u2019 away,\u201d an excuse for a life of low-key fun and escapism for those \u201cgrowing older, but not up.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “It was a hot day,” the singer\u00a0told the Arizona Republic<\/a>\u00a0in 2021. “And they were damn good margaritas. \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 Caf\u00e9 in 1987. The brand has since expanded into dozens of categories, including resorts, restaurants, food items, apparel, and even cruise lines.<\/p>\n But where, exactly, is Margaritaville? Just like in the song, it is inspired by Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no such place as Margaritaville,\u201d Buffett once told The Arizona Republic. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n If you want to \u201cgo where it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n From the streets of Key West to the harbors of Apalachicola, here are\u00a0USA Today’s 10 Best spots in Florida<\/a>\u00a0to “live out a Jimmy Buffett song”:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cStranded on a sandbar\u201d \u2014 Cayo Costa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s this one particular harbor\u201d \u2014 Apalachicola<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to fly to Saint Somewhere\u201d \u2014 St. Augustine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cGot to stop wishing, got to go fishing\u201d \u2014 Destin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cIt\u2019s five o\u2019clock somewhere\u201d \u2014 Jupiter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cWastin\u2019 away again in Margaritaville\u201d \u2014 Fort Myers Beach<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a woman goin\u2019 crazy on Caroline Street\u201d \u2014 Key West<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cYou got fins to the left, fins to the right\u201d \u2014 Orlando<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cStrollin’ down the avenue that’s known as A1A\u201d \u2014 Vero Beach<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \u201cHey Mr. Spaceman, won’t you please take me along. I won’t do anything wrong.\u201d \u2014 Space Coast<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Honorable mention: <\/strong>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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Only one person can win the ultimate title, but there were some other big names in the top 10 after our first three rounds of polling.<\/p>\n Here’s who readers selected as the top 10 most Famous Floridians:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jimmy Buffett \u2013 Late singer, lived in Key West, Palm Beach<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Tom Petty \u2013 Late rock musician from Gainesville<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Burt Reynolds \u2013 Late actor lived on Jupiter Island, went to FSU<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Thomas Edison \u2013 inventor and businessman who wintered in Fort Myers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Ray Charles \u2013 Late legendary singer, lived and went to school in St. Augustine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Tim Tebow \u2013 Heisman Trophy Florida Gators legend, raised in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Jack Nicklaus \u2013 Golf GOAT, lives in North Palm Beach<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\nBuffett wasn’t born in Florida. Here’s where his story started<\/h2>\n
When was Jimmy Buffett first introduced to Florida?<\/h2>\n
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Why did Jimmy Buffett relocate to Florida? Here’s where singer settled in state<\/h2>\n
‘Margaritaville’ is inspired by Jimmy Buffett’s time in Key West<\/h2>\n
What is Margaritaville? Is it in Florida?<\/h2>\n
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‘Live out a Jimmy Buffett song’ at these 10 places in Florida<\/h2>\n
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See the top 10 most famous Floridians, according to readers<\/h2>\n
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