Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville license plate will quickly hit the road

Gainesville – Approaching the nearby Parrot Head bumper: Florida is approaching offering Margaritaville license plates to pay tribute to Key West’s favorite son, Jimmy Buffett.

More than a year after Tallahassee lawmakers passed a bill allowing special plates, the final design appeared on an order that was sufficiently high enough to make it happen.

The final license plate design with a scenic beach background features a “margaritaville”, palm trees and a red parrot perched on the term “hemispherical dancer”, the iconic seaplane of singer-songwriters. It became a staple of his song, “Jamaican Mystica,” after the plane was shot dead and mistaken for a drug-powered plane by Jamaican authorities.

The Florida Highway Safety and Automobile Division needed a minimum of 3,000 advance sales orders and 100 shyness, according to figures released last month.

Margaritaville license plates will participate in over 100 other specialist plates in Florida, including Buffett’s Save the Manatee Plate, designed after Manatee Club saves to assist in the preservation of manatees and aquatic habitats.

“His legacy will be extremely proud to continue to give back through songs for change and to include its Florida license plate,” said the singer’s daughter, Delaney Buffett. “I know he gets a kick from (it).”

Efforts to honor Buffett began eight days after his death from Merkelsel cancer on September 1, 2023. Petersburg has introduced a bill proposing a specialized version of the Margaritaville. The $25 annual fee is directed towards Songs for Change, one of Buffett’s three charities.

Though he gained fame and fortune from famous songs such as “Margaritaville” and “Five is somewhere 5 o’clock,” Buffett, who drew heavy weight during his time living in the Florida Keys, was a philanthropist “riding a rader fly” according to Sinding’s executive director Judith Ranger Smith.

“One of his mottos was to have fun, make money and make the world a better place,” she said. “So, that’s kind of obvious. That’s what he did. And he couldn’t make any money because he was so popular, but leaving a better place means ensuring your money is good.”

He did just that, as more than 700 national organizations were later given $17 million.

When Buffett hired Smith for the company in 1995, he wanted to call the company “scalping for change,” but later offered the name “sing for change” as he donated $1 from each concert he played to the local city.

“To sing for songs, to sing for pennies, or to sing for change, it has a bit of a double entender, and all those dollars add to make something really great,” she said.

However, since Buffett had no opportunity to play in all cities, they realized the process was not fair and from there expanded to occasionally give money to disaster-historic communities like Jacmel in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

Funds raised from a $25/year specialty license plate fee ensure that hurricanes and tornado-stricken coastal towns have the infrastructure needed for future storms, especially for communities struggling with Florida’s natural disasters, for sustainable reconstruction.

And although he’s not around to see the song of the continuous impact for change in Florida, if he was, Buffett included bikes and boats, Smith said.

“He was just like a force of nature. He was truly true,” she said.

Other lawmakers proposed Buffett-related legislation in addition to Cheney’s bill, which outlines the upcoming Margaritaville board.

Former Senator Lauren D-Plantation proposed a bill to designate parts of the state road A1A in 13 counties as the “Jimmie Buffett Memorial Highway.”

Growing up, the book knew classic songs like “Cheeseburger of Paradise” and “Delaney Talks the Statues,” but in adulthood he learned about Buffett on a deeper level and worked on environmental initiatives such as manatee and marine preservation.

“When he passed away, I automatically thought, ‘How special it is to be able to recognize him like this on the A1A Memorial Highway,” she said. “There was nothing more important to us that could be. There was nothing more iconic for Florida.”

After lawmakers passed the book and Cheney bill, Gov. Ron DeSantis approved both in June 2024, solidifying Buffett’s place in Florida history as a “true pirate.”

From his charity, Margaritaville Resort, hit songs and albums, environmentalist efforts, and his death that helped educate people about the harms of skin cancer, Buffett was in Florida. The legislative move was intended to allow him to be remembered on state highways and even cars.

“He symbolizes everything that is symbolic in our beautiful state,” the book said. “An incredible man.”

The story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Reporters can be contacted at kairilowery@ufl.edu. You can donate here to support our students.