ScalziSep 2, 2023

What the actual hell, this is absolutely coming out of nowhere for me

https://apnews.com/article/obituary-jimmy-buffett-4295f355b39237f40663d485c4c6d557

'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76

“Margaritaville” singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett has died at age 76. A statement on Buffett's official website and social media pages says the singer died Friday “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs." Buffett created beach bum soft rock with an escapist Caribbean flavor song and turned that celebration of loafing into a billion-dollar empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions. The song ”Margaritaville," by far his biggest hit, was released in 1977 and spent 22 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100. It became a seaside standard and inspired generations of fans — known as Parrotheads — to celebrate easy living.

AP News
Show threadScalziSep 2, 2023
I'm not personally a huge fan of the music (I don't hate it, it's just not for me), but I appreciate that the dude knew he got lucky on a cosmic scale, and rode that wave for the whole length of the beach.
Show threadRick O'TooleSep 2, 2023
@scalzi "he got lucky"?
Since when is working hard and producing art that people like considered luck?
Show threadScalziSep 2, 2023
@rotoole Speaking as an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author with millions of books sold across 30+ languages, and multiple projects in development for film and TV, who works very hard and puts out things people like, yes, he got lucky. Also, so did I. Right book, right time set me up for my career. Lots of people work hard and make stuff that people would like, and don't have the same luck. Luck does not suggest work isn't done. Luck is an accelerator and amplifier of work.
Show threadRick O'Toole
@scalzi Ok. Help me understand the luck inflection point. Is it when an artist hits a certain dollar/wealth amount, or published works, or # of fans, or something else?
Sep 2, 2023 at 12:38pmMastodon for Android
Show threadScalziSep 2, 2023

@rotoole Luck is not an engineering problem to solve, I'm sad to say, otherwise it could be replicated endlessly (and not be luck at all).

Incidentally, a quote from Buffet, on the topic: “You're lucky enough at some point to put your thumb on the pulse of something that people can connect with. It's an amazing and lucky thing to happen to you, and that happened with ‘Margaritaville.’”

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/margaritaville-singer-jimmy-buffett-dies-76/story?id=102879851

Buffet believes he got lucky! And you know what? He was right.

'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76

"He lived his life like a song till the very last breath."

ABC News
Show threadMichael W Lucas Sep 2, 2023

@scalzi @rotoole

I'm a pro writer less lucky than Scalzi or Buffett. (Not complaining, the bills are paid.)

Attracting a following in any artistic endeavor is luck.

Yes, the harder you work the luckier you get. Every song or story is a lottery ticket. I respect the hell out of Buffett's labor.

As a gross generalization: the creators who know they got lucky are probably decent folks. The creators who don't understand their luck are generally assholes.