Eagles kicked off their The Long Goodbye final tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday, September 7, and they took a moment out of their show to pay tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett, who passed away September 1 at the age of 76.
As seen in fan-shot footage posted to YouTube, Don Henley told the crowd, “Last weekend we lost a deer friend and the world lost a musical icon. Our dear friend Jimmy Buffett is now sailing on that cosmic ocean having that cheeseburger with Glenn and Randy,” referring to the late Eagles members Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner.
He added, “We always laughed and said we survived the ’70s together and the ’80s were pretty rough too, come to think of it.”
Henley called Buffett “one of the hardest working men I ever saw,” but noted, “he made work look like play and he brought joy to everything he did, including the work.”
Finally, he shared, “One of his final wishes was that we keep the party going … responsibly.”
The band then dedicated their next two songs to Buffett. The “Margaritaville” singer’s classic “Come Monday” was sung by Timothy B. Schmit, who was once a member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, while Joe Walsh, who was wearing a parrot hat on his head, sung “Fins” and joked, “Jimmy and I got thrown out of some of the finest hotels in the world.”
Eagles’ The Long Goodbye tour returns to Madison Square Garden on Friday, September 8. A complete list of dates can be found at eagles.com.
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