Jimmy Buffett's Sad Final Performance Will Melt Your Heart
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Fans are still reeling from Jimmy Buffett's death on Sept. 1, 2023. Now they can find some solace in watching clips from the tropical rocker's final performance—a surprise appearance in support of his Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally—online.
The pop-up concert took place in July at a spot called Sunset Cove in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. McAnally was in the middle of his own cover of Buffett's "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" when the man himself walked out onstage, picked up a guitar and joined in. Before launching into "Margaritaville," Buffett told the crowd, "Well, it is good to see an audience, let me tell you."
The laid-back hitmaker had been forced to cancel concerts in the months before his death and was hospitalized in May but did not disclose the reason at the time. He died at 76 after a four-year battle with Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive and relatively rare skin cancer, that eventually metastasized into lymphoma.
Related: Understanding Jimmy Buffett's Cause of Death
Mike MacFarlane, the owner of the venue where Buffett last played for an audience, told CBS Boston, "Mac got ahold of me and said, ‘Hey, Jimmy just reached out and wants to come up and do a few songs, what do you think?’ I said, ‘Let’s find a way to make it happen."
And so they did. "I was in awe," MacFarlane said. "You can’t make that up. The ‘wow’ factor was unbelievable."
