At the CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 8th, a quartet of stars will pay tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

The late Jimmy Buffett will be honored with “a very special tribute” from Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Mac McAnally and Zac Brown Band at the upcoming 57th Annual CMA Awards. The Country Music Association (CMA) revealed the news early Wednesday morning.

11-time CMA Award winner Chesney, 10-time CMA Award winner and longtime The Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally, 16-time CMA Award winner Alan Jackson and 2023 Vocal Group of the Year nominee Zac Brown Band have each previously collaborated with the “Margaritaville” singer/songwriter so the performance will be profoundly meaningful.

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At this last weekend’s football game between North Carolina State University and Clemson, the NC State Marching Band (the Power Sound of the South) performed a great tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

Watch below:

CMT premiered today the music video for “Bubbles Up” from Jimmy Buffett’s upcoming posthumous album Equal Strain on All Parts.

Buffett wrote the song with Will Kimbrough, and “Bubbles Up” was produced by Michael Utley and Mac McAnally.

The music video for the encouraging, emotional “Bubbles Up” debuts today and was produced by Stan Kellam, who co-directed it with Jeremy Clevenger.

Buffett’s team explained the video features, “Jimmy and what he loved doing. From performance footage in the 70s to more recent days, being on and in the water, playing for fans, flying, each frame holds wonderful memories of a well-lived life. The opening shot is Jimmy filming himself jumping into the water.”

“Bubbles Up” is from Buffett’s posthumous album, “Equal Strain On All Parts,” which will be available Friday.

The video includes footage of Buffett enjoying life, in the water, performing, with friends and doing what he loved to do.

“It brings a smile,” his team commented. “Jimmy was joy.”

Buffett’s team hopes fans are comforted to see the singer and hear his loving, supportive message.

“Just know you are loved, there’s light up above, and the joy is always enough on the road ahead,” they said.” If you loved Jimmy, it’s impossible not to completely lose it. He is missed beyond measure.”

The Miami Heat played their first game of the 2023-24 season on Wednesday night and the team took a moment to honor Jimmy with his daughter Savannah in attendance. She sat next to an empty chair with a guitar on the seat.

photo Josh Moser

photo Josh Moser

Buffett regularly attended Heat games. During the 2014 NBA Finals, SB Nation created a GIF of Jimmy and titled it “Jimmy Buffett is way too excited the Heat are losing”

And a story about Buffett and the Miami Heat wouldn’t be complete without a mention of his ejection from a game in 2001 after cursing at a referee: Jimmy Buffett Ejected from Miami Heat Game

Two more songs have been released from Jimmy Buffett’s upcoming Equal Strain on All Parts: “Mozambique” with Emmylou Harris and “University of Bourbon Street” with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

From Rolling Stone:

BEFORE HIS DEATH, Jimmy Buffett put his distinct spin on one of the most Buffett-esque songs Bob Dylan ever wrote, “Mozambique,” even enlisting Emmylou Harris — who sang backup on the original — to reprise her role. The cover will appear on the upcoming posthumous Buffett album, Equal Strain on All Parts, out Nov. 3.

Dylan’s original, off 1976’s Desire, is plenty jaunty and sun-soaked on its own, though not without some ramshackle touches. Buffett and Harris keep that original energy while smoothing out some of the edges, most notably substituting the tender creak of the original song’s violin (played by Scarlet Rivera) for the dulcet plunk of the steelpan drum.

The track also arrives with a behind-the-scenes music video that shows Buffett, Harris, and the band cutting the song in the studio. Some idyllic footage ostensibly from Mozambique itself is thrown in for good measure, though there’s a funny contrast between those shots and the ones of Buffett, draped in a scarf, and Harris, donning a coat and gloves, working in the studio.

Accompanying “Mozambique” is a new Buffett original, “University of Bourbon Street,” which features Preservation Hall Jazz Band. As its title suggests, the song finds Buffett recounting and celebrating the influence of his musical education in New Orleans.