Nicole Kidman and Elton John pay tribute to Margaritaville singer Jimmy Buffett
Stars including Nicole Kidman, Elton John and LL Cool J have paid tribute to singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who has died aged 76.
The performer – known for his laid-back approach to life and credited with creating the tropical rock genre – died at his home in Sag Harbor, on Long Island, in America, according to a statement on his official website.
Best known for his 1970s hit Margaritaville – named after the popular cocktail – Buffett had last performed during a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July.
He had been fighting Merkel cell skin cancer – a rare and aggressive cancer which tends to first develop on the face, head or neck before spreading to other parts of the body – for four years.
Nicole Kidman, whose country singer husband Keith Urban had previously performed with Buffett, shared photos in her Instagram story which showed them chatting, along with the message: “Remembering the good times. You will be missed xx.”
Elton John wrote in his Instagram story: “Jimmy Buffett was a unique and treasured entertainer. His fans adored him and he never let them down.
“This is the saddest of news. A lovely man gone way too soon. Condolences to (his wife) Jane and the family from (my husband) David (Furnish) and me.”
Rapper LL Cool J wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Rest in power Jimmy Buffett, I’m glad we had time to vibe. You were and always will be a truly inspiring human.”
Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson posted a picture of one of Buffett’s album covers on social media with the message: “Love and mercy, Jimmy Buffett.”
Actor Miles Teller shared photos taken with Buffett, with the poignant messages, “‘I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination’ – the legend Jimmy Buffett,” and “Where it all ends, I can’t fathom, my friends. If I knew I might drop my anchor” which he shared on social media.
Music was about ‘fishing, diving, dreaming’
Founding his group, the Coral Reefer Band, in 1975, Buffett earned two Grammy Award nods, two Academy of Country Music Awards and a Country Music Association Award over his seven-decade career.
With his fans dubbed the Parrot Heads, much of his music portrayed a sun, sea and sand-loving lifestyle in a tropical tourist location.
Living the life he portrayed in his songs, he accepted an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Miami in 2015 wearing flip-flops and sunglasses.
A canny businessman as well as a singer, he used the title of his 1977 hit Margaritaville as the brand of his billion-dollar empire, which encompassed restaurants, clothing, casinos, a radio station and more.
The song itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.
A former journalist, his musical writing had been praised by Bob Dylan, and he had also written bestselling books of both fiction and non-fiction.
A man of many talents, he was also a skilled pilot and sailor.
His ethos: ‘Take every good opportunity and go live it’
Paying a very personal tribute to Buffett on Instagram, professional surfer Kelly Slater, 51, said that since he met Buffett in France in 2010, eight years after his own father had died, the singer and songwriter had “kind of became a surrogate” father to him.
He summed up the themes of Buffett’s music as “fishing, diving, dreaming about being in the tropics, playing music, and just living the dream”, going on to describe the impact the star had had on his life.
Slater wrote: “He told me life was too short not to take every good opportunity that came along and go live it.
“I’m not sure I’ve met many people with as positive an attitude who were as welcoming and giving as Jimmy has been to me, just one of the many thousands of friends he’s had around this world… I really don’t want to believe such a fine man is gone but I’m thankful and lucky for the times we had.”
He ended his post, “Fins Up!”, a phrase he said Buffett always signed off with.
Announcing his death on Saturday, a message on Buffett’s Instagram read: “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1 surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.
“He lived his life like a song ’til the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
Buffett is survived by his wife Jane, daughters Savannah and Sarah, son Cameron, and his six devoted dogs.
Elon Musk has criticised US President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, calling it “outrageous” and a “disgusting abomination”.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, was passed by the House Republicans in May, and has been described by the president as a “big, beautiful bill”.
The tech billionaire hit out at the tax cuts on his platform X, writing: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Elon Musk left his ‘special government employee’ role last week. Pic: AP.
In American politics, “pork” is a political metaphor used when government spending is allocated to local projects, usually to benefit politicians’ constituencies.
Musk left the administration abruptly last week after working to cut costs with his team, the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency – known as DOGE – with the ambition of sacking federal workers and cutting red tape.
The White House brushed Musk’s comments aside, claiming they did not surprise the president.
In a press conference on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill”.
She added: “This is one, big, beautiful bill.
“And he’s sticking to it.”
The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to cut back $9.4bn in already approved spending, taking money away from DOGE.
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What did Musk achieve at DOGE?
The billionaire tweeted: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
He also suggested voting out politicians who advanced the president’s tax bill.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” Musk wrote in another X post.
How Musk’s mission to cut government spending fell flat
Last Thursday, Musk revealed on X that his scheduled time as a “special government employee” was coming to an end.
Before the news broke, Musk’s father told Sky News his son was “not a very good politician”.
But speaking to Gillian Joseph on The World, Errol Musk insisted there was “no rift between Elon and Donald Trump”.
Musk’s time at DOGE was controversial, with drastic cuts to America’s humanitarian efforts sparking particular criticism.
Questions have also been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
Elon Musk brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office during a press conference earlier this year. Pic: Reuters.
The 53-year-old, who famously brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office, also expressed frustration about resistance to his ideas and clashed with other senior members of the Trump administration.
He recently told The Washington Post: “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised. I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC to say the least.”
By law, status as a “special government employee” means he could only serve for a maximum of 130 days, which would have ended around 30 May.
The family of the man accused of throwing petrol bombs at a pro-Israel group in Colorado have been taken into custody.
Immigration officers detained Mohamed Soliman’s relatives, believed to be his wife and five children.
Soliman, an Egyptian national, moved to the US three years ago and lived in Colorado Springs but was there illegally after his visa and work authorisation expired. He reportedly has two teenage children and three younger children.
“We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,” said homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on X.
Soliman, 45, is being held after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a group doing a walk for Israeli hostages in Boulder on Sunday.
The attacker allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” and had a total of 18 petrol bombs – but police said he “got scared” and only tossed a couple.
Soliman also had a makeshift flamethrower in the form of gas in a backpack sprayer, according to a FBI statement, but told investigators he did not use it.
Twelve people were injured, authorities said. The victims were aged between 52 and 88 and three of them were still being treated in hospital on Tuesday.
Mohamed Soliman appeared with a bandaged ear in a mugshot. Pic: Boulder Police Dept.
Soliman was allegedly dressed as a gardener to get as close as he could to the small group. Authorities said he told them he had no regrets.
He has been charged with a hate crime and 16 counts of attempted murder in federal and state cases.
Court papers said he planned the attack for a year and told authorities that no one, including his family, was aware of the plot.
Video showed Soliman being arrested at the scene and an apparent burn mark on the ground
An FBI statement said Soliman left an iPhone hidden in a drawer at his home with messages for his family but that his wife handed it to police.
The family are said to be cooperating with investigators.
Soliman admitted taking gun training to try to get a permit but was denied as he wasn’t a US citizen, according to police and the FBI.
Barred from buying a firearm, he allegedly used YouTube to learn how to make petrol bombs.
Read more from Sky News:
Musk calls Trump-backed tax bill ‘disgusting abomination’
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Law enforcement searched for bombs after the attack. Pic: AP
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Boulder attack was “aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews”.
The incident follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC last month.
Tensions are simmering in the US over Israel’s war in Gaza.
There has been an increase in antisemitic hate crime, as well as moves by some supporters of Israel to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic.
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