Jimmy Buffett is in a Boston hospital. Here’s what he wants Parrotheads to know

Jimmy Buffett is seldom at a loss for words. The songwriter was in customary witty spirits when he took to Twitter and his web page to tell his faithful Parrotheads why he had to postpone the final concert of his Second Wind Tour scheduled for Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina.

Buffett is in a Boston hospital. But he’s upbeat.

Undergoing treatments

“I finish up my treatments tomorrow and heading home to Sag Harbor for a while, and then head to the Bahamas for a fishing trip with old friends, along with paddling and sailing and get myself back in good shape,” Buffett told the Miami Herald in an email Friday. “Once I am in shape, we will look at the when’s and where’s of shows. I think playing is as therapeutic to me to play as they are for fans to listen, and sing along.”

On his social media posts Thursday the 76-year-old Coral Reefer turned the mic over to another famous writer to set up his announcement:

“These few words from Mark Twain about life changes, seemed perfect to pass on at this time. ‘Challenges,’ he said, ‘make life interesting, however overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.’”

A message to his fans

Here’s what some of those challenges are, in Buffett’s words:

“I had a sudden change of plans this week that affected us all. Two days ago, I was just back from a trip to the Bahamas, thawing out from the California ‘winter tour,’ and champing at the bit to get to Charleston. I had to stop in Boston for a check-up but wound up back in the hospital to address some issues that needed immediate attention.”

Buffett, whose 1977 hit “Margaritaville” made it into the National Recordings Registry of the Library of Congress in April, didn’t specify what those issues are.

Last September the singer-songwriter had to postpone or cancel five dates on his tour, Billboard reported.

“Growing old is not for sissies, I promise you,” Buffett said in his Thursday post directed to his fans. “I also will promise you, that when I am well enough to perform, that is what I’ll be doing in the land of She-Crab soup. You all make my life more meaningful and fulfilled than I would have ever imagined as a towheaded little boy sitting on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts, your amazing years of loyalty, and just remember, NOT YET!”

Buffett’s Keys connection

Buffett was born Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and raised in Alabama. But the world learned of him when he made Key West his base in the early-1970s.

“After the first album came out I went touring across the U.S. but until ‘72 I was basically staying alive by working gigs in South Florida,” Buffett told the Miami Herald in 2021 on the 50th anniversary of his first Key West gig.

“The music scene in Key West, let’s face it, when I got there in ‘72, it wasn’t a music scene. If you got a job in a bar, that was a music scene,” Buffett said. “It’s changed a lot and I think most of it for the better.”

Buffett has been working on his 30th studio album, the follow-up to his 2020 releases, “Life on the Flip Side” and “Songs You Don’t Know by Heart.”

He ended his brief Miami Herald interview Friday with two words: “Go Heat!”

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