The family of Bob Graham celebrates the rollicking, meaningful life and career of Jimmy Buffett

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into a billion-dollar empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76.

“Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted to Buffett’s official website and social media pages said late Friday. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

While Buffett’s life and career are being remembered fondly by a chorus of Floridians — and Florida politicians — the musician’s passing struck especially hard with the family of former U.S. Senator and Governor Bob Graham, which released the following statement in honor of their friend.

The Graham family is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of our longtime family friend Jimmy Buffett.

Bob and Jimmy became friends nearly fifty years ago, a relationship borne out of a shared love for this wonderful state that we all call home, which started when Bob and Adele’s daughter Suzanne insisted they go to one of Jimmy’s concerts together.   

In 1981, Bob and Jimmy co-founded Save the Manatees, an organization whose mission has helped bring both awareness and change in the way Floridians share the waterways with these amazing creatures. They also teamed up to bring attention to the plight of the Everglades, as well as protecting the ocean and island waterways that are so crucial to the quality of life in Florida.  

The longer Bob and Jimmy worked together, the closer the friendship between our families grew. The Buffett family spent time with the Grahams in Tallahassee, and built a relationship that extended both to issues that Bob worked on in the United States Senate, as well as Gwen’s work in the United States House of Representatives. Jimmy’s impact on environmental issues in Florida can’t be understated.  

But more than anything, we are grateful to have spent so many years with a front-row seat to the magic that was Jimmy Buffett, the man who through his music and prose, brought together people from all corners of the globe.  When you listened to Jimmy, you were able to escape the challenges of the world, and be transported to a carefree world of joy and peace. 

To see Bob and Jimmy together over the years was to see two men who truly loved and respected eachother.  Jimmy’s family became part of our family, and with Jimmy’s passing, we have lost one of our own.  

Now that Jimmy has passed that great wild meridian one last time, the entire Graham Family extends our condolences to Jimmy’s wife Jane, their children, Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron, all of their family, and to the legions of Parrotheads who loved Jimmy as much as we did.