A pair of duos payed homage to the late Jimmy Buffett on Wednesday night (Nov. 8) at the 2023 CMA Awards.
First, Kenny Chesney joined longtime Buffett collaborator and songwriter Mac McAnally for "A Pirate Looks at 40," a 1974 single that was recorded in Nashville. In addition to his country music bonafides, McAnally was a longtime member of Buffett's touring Coral Reef Band.
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When the pair reached the line "just a few friends," McAnally ad-libbed that "Jimmy made a world full of friends."
After Chesney and McAnally's acoustic duet, Buffett's "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" collaborator Alan Jackson joined fellow Parrothead Zac Brown for "Margaritaville," which sparked an audience singalong that delighted Sara Evans, Kelsea Ballerini and others shown in the crowd.
Brown dressed the part, wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt in addition to his trademark hat. Buffett collaborated with the Zac Brown Band in 2010 on the track "Knee Deep."
"Everybody taking part in it loved Jimmy and he loved everybody taking part in it - and that's an easy call, because Jimmy loved everybody and he made everybody feel better every time he was in front of them for his whole life, all the way to the end," McAnally told Billboard ahead of the broadcast. "The thing we're trying to convey is that he was not a fictional character. He was really the guy that you thought he was. He's gonna be smiling down on us tonight. Because he's gonna hear some people that loved and put their hearts right up against the microphone and gave it all we got."
Buffett died on Sept. 1 at age 76. His cause of death was later revealed to be Merkel cell cancer, a rare form of skin cancer. The singer battled the disease for years before his death.
