Jimmy Buffett has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class’ Musical Excellence award. Even though he had been eligible since 1998, Buffett was never nominated for induction.
The singer-songwriter received the award posthumously Saturday night with an introductory performance by fellow Class of 2024 inductee Dave Matthews, who sang a solo acoustic version of Buffett’s 1974 song “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” “He made me feel very special,” Matthews said.
James Taylor inducted Buffett, noting, “For so many of us, Jimmy was like a heroic figure in a Greek myth. His adventure was our adventure. We got to share his huge love of this life. He loved being Jimmy Buffett.
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“He was larger than life but somehow at the same time always right-sized and always authentic. Jimmy was the self-made man and a poet, and there won’t be another like him.”
Jimmy Buffett Is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Taylor then joined Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally for a performance of Buffett’s “Come Monday” to close out his induction.
Buffett, who rose to fame in the ’70s on the hits “Margaritaville” and “Fins,” died at 76 on Sept. 1, 2023, of Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare skin cancer that he had been diagnosed with four years earlier.
An album he was working on at the time, Equal Strain on All Parts, was released two months later and included appearances by Paul McCartney, Emmylou Harris and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
In April, a show called Keep the Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett was held in Los Angeles and featured performances by McCartney, Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi and Jackson Browne.
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Many have shared their thoughts on possible induction.
Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
