


He was the one who penned the article regarding the separation of bluegrass stars Flatt and Scruggs, big news at that time. After he graduated from college, Jimmy worked as a writer for Billboard magazine, a gig that turned out to be his only 9-to-5 job ever.Margaritaville had been released as a single in February, and it flew up the charts through the summer, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the coveted #1 spot on the Easy Listening chart. Jimmy and the LP both started to get some real traction when he and his Coral Reefer Band opened for The Eagles on a number of dates in March and July of 1977 during The Eagles' Hotel California tour. The song appeared on the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which was released in January of 1977. Later that night, while staying at a friend's house in order to save money, he sat out on the deck and wrote most of the lyrics, putting the finishing touches on the song when he returned to Key West. In 1976, Jimmy had been inspired to write "Margaritaville" after sampling his first margarita (followed by a few more) at Lung's Cocina del Sur restaurant in Austin, Texas. His two subsequent LPs, 1974's A1A and 1976's Havana Daydreamin', failed to produce any singles. I can’t think of another example of a song that has that total impact.As odd as it might seem now, Jimmy struggled to find a niche, as his music didn't precisely fit into any one category.

“From a larger business perspective, when you combine the two and look at what the song stands for as a lifestyle and as a branding vehicle,” says Brauneis, “it’s worth far more than Happy Birthday. If you want to check Buffett’s tour dates, there’s no -there’s only, where his music career and the rest of his empire are seamlessly melted into one site. Of course, this means the song and the brand are separate legal entities and could, in theory, be sold separately. Then there’s the trademark that has developed out of the song’s title, and legally that’s a different piece of intellectual property.” “There’s the copyright that protects the song, which is valuable because of the stream of income. 1 was Happy Birthday to You.) “If you want to get technical, there are two Margaritavilles,” says Brauneis. The two highest-ranking pop songs are You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, by the Righteous Brothers, and Yesterday, by the Beatles.
#Margaritaville song crack#
According to the 2012 BBC documentary The Richest Songs in the World, Margaritaville doesn’t crack the top 10, which is populated by three Christmas songs. After debuting on Buffett’s 1977 album Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude, it peaked at No. That’s probably in the same order of magnitude.”Īs a recording, Margaritaville doesn’t post stratospheric numbers. “When you’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, you have to think in terms of Star Wars, Winnie the Pooh, or Transformers. “If there is anything on the same scale as a Margaritaville, it’s not a song-it’s a motion picture,” says Robert Brauneis, a professor of intellectual property at the George Washington University Law School and author of a research paper on Happy Birthday to You, which continues to generate upwards of $2 million a year. But as Buffett’s Parrothead empire continues to spread, one can’t help but wonder whether a more lucrative song exists. To think that all of this poured forth from a goofy, three-chord song-a mere 208 words, roughly half the length of this article-written about being lazy and getting drunk. As a private company, Margaritaville doesn’t release information about its holdings, but by all accounts it has only expanded since then. According to the Orlando Business Journal, the company brought in at least $100 million in revenue in 2007. You can buy Margaritaville rum and combine it with a Margaritaville drink mixer in your very own Margaritaville blender that costs $349.99. Margaritaville Enterprises, founded in 2006 and based in Orlando, sells everything from beachwear to furniture and also oversees at least one Caribbean island resort, two American resorts, and four casinos. For Jimmy Buffett, the grand opening was no special occasion: The Atlantic City outpost is the 27th Margaritaville in the world. The singer and songwriter of the eponymous song was conspicuously absent from the festivities. The $35 million, 40,000-square-foot complex houses two restaurants, multiple bars, a beach-themed casino, and several breezy, laid-back retail stores-all tucked away in a larger gambling mecca called Resorts. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cut the ribbon on Thursday outside Atlantic City’s newest tourist attraction: Margaritaville.
