From Florida Today: Who is the most Famous Floridian? You decide, take our poll to pick the winner
Florida has a long history of attracting the rich, talented and famous, while producing some legends and icons itself. But which one is the most famous?
The USA TODAY Network-Florida is continuing its search for the most famous Floridian. As of Sept. 24, we are down to just five people, including one historic figure and American inventor, three late musicians and singers and one late actor who was an FSU alumnus.
The fifth poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 28. After the results are in, we will publish the results of who the most famous Floridian is on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Which is the most Famous Floridian?
Jimmy Buffett – Late singer, lived in Key West, Palm Beach
Tom Petty – Late rock musician from Gainesville
Burt Reynolds – Late actor lived on Jupiter Island, went to FSU
Thomas Edison – inventor and businessman who wintered in Fort Myers
Ray Charles – Late legendary singer, lived and went to school in St. Augustine
Singer and ‘Margaritaville’ creator Jimmy Buffett
Despite what many think, the late Jimmy Buffett isn’t a native Floridian. The singer was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Christmas Day 1946, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama.
According to the official Key West Margaritaville website, Buffett was first introduced to the Keys in 1972 when visiting his singer-songwriter friend, Jerry Jeff Walker, in Coconut Grove. It explained that Walker offered Buffett “refuge” since he was down on his luck after ending his marriage and not getting any offers for his music.
He soon fully moved to the Keys and worked on a fishing boat during the day while playing throughout the town’s streets at night. Once moving to Florida, he was completely hooked and fully embraced the Key West lifestyle — both his songs and his casual uniform of Hawaiian shirts, shorts and flip-flops.
Years later, his personal brand began expanding in 1985 with the opening of a string of Margaritaville-themed stores and restaurants in Key West, followed in 1987 with the first Margaritaville Café nearby. The brand has since expanded to dozens of categories, such as resorts, restaurants, food items, apparel and even cruise lines.
In addition to the Keys, Buffett also owned homes in Palm Beach. He died in September 2023 due to complications from Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer, with which he had been diagnosed four years earlier.