The Hulu comedy drama Life & Beth pays tribute to the late singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett in Season 2.
The “Margaritaville” singer appears in Episode 2 — titled “Who Dat?” — in a brief cameo as a busker on the streets of New Orleans.
The episode follows Beth (Amy Schumer) and John (Michael Cera) as they jet off to the popular Louisiana city to get married.
Buffett, dressed in his signature Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts combo, performs “I Will Play For Gumbo” from his 1999 studio album Beach House on the Moon in the scene, and Beth stops to drop a few dollars in his guitar case when she and John walk by.
The singer’s cameo is a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but the episode pays tribute to him with a touching title card during the end credits, which reads, “In Loving Memory of Jimmy Buffett, who got his start busking on the streets of New Orleans.”
The beloved musician died on Sept. 1, 2023 of Merkel cell cancer, a rare form of skin cancer. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs. He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” read a statement shared on his website.
The biographical section of the website mentions Buffett’s connections to New Orleans, where the Life & Beth episode takes place, reading, “… suddenly Jimmy’s world opened up – while he still attended classes, he quickly had his first band and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing 6 nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs.”
In the past, Buffett has referred to his early music years in New Orleans as “formative,” telling CBS Sunday Morning in a 2018 interview, “It made me a better professional player so that I thought I could make that leap. This was my training ground for all of that.”
Schumer spoke with USA Today about Buffett’s cameo in Life & Beth, ahead of the release of Season 2, and she said, “I’m really glad – and his family’s really glad – that we have this footage of him going back to his roots and singing at the end of his life.” Schumer also told the outlet that Buffett piloted himself out to New Orleans for the role.
The season premiered Feb. 16, 2024 in full, and follows Beth and John as they get swept up in romance. The couple, who got together in the Season 1 finale, quickly decide to get married and have a baby.
In an interview with Decider, Schumer revealed that getting Jennifer Coolidge to play a New Orleans psychic was a “long shot,” but ended up working out. Talking about the exciting cameo, Schumer said, “Jen and I got to work together years ago on my sketch show. We did a Toddlers and Tiaras thing where she was my stage mom, and we had a blast.”
Life & Beth is streaming on Hulu.
