During Saturday’s Keep the Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett event at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, Harrison Ford recalled an interesting moment they shared before the late musician’s passing in September. “Jimmy Buffet was a cool guy,” Ford reminisced as he introduced the Zac Brown band.
Jimmy died at 76 after a prolonged battle with a type of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma. He was famous for his blend of country, rock, and tropical sounds in hits like “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Despite being diagnosed in 2019, Jimmy continued to perform to the delight of his fan base called “the parrotheads,” until last year.
Harrison Ford recalls a drunken lunch with the late Jimmy Buffett
Ford confessed to being inspired by Jimmy and the late news anchor, Ed Bradley, to get his ears pierced after Bradley’s birthday lunch. “I remember one day that a long— some might say boozy, lunch with Jimmy…it was Bradley’s birthday. I saw both of them had earrings. So, right after lunch, I got my ear pierced,” he admitted, adding that Jimmy’s coolness was “infectious.”
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The Indiana Jones actor noted that Jimmy was “infectious enough for a 40-year-old man to spontaneously get his ear pierced and infectious enough to create an entire culture around his music.” “There is no other way to say it: There will never be another like Jimmy,” the now 81-year-old concluded.
2005.
11/16/05
Jimmy Buffet at an American Museum of Natural History Benefit.
(NYC)
Also present at the event were Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, The Eagles, Snoop Dogg, Kenny Chesney, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, and many more to pay their respects to Jimmy, who Ford called a “kind” man. “He was beloved by his family, by his friends, by his band, his crew, and his collaborators, and he loved them all back,” Ford added.
Jimmy and Ford also bonded over flying as they were both pilots, and the latter recalled a near-fatal accident that almost took his life and that of his wife, Calista Flockhart. The incident was hard on Ford, however, he “went back to flying” thanks to a few words from Jimmy. “There was a mechanical issue with the airplane I could not have known about or attended to in any way. So, in the words of the great philosopher Jimmy Buffett: Sh-t happens,” he said.