Eagles kicked off their The Long Goodbye tour on Thursday night (Aug. 7) in New York City with a pair of tributes to longtime friend Jimmy Buffett.
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"Jimmy Buffett is now sailing on that cosmic ocean, having that cheeseburger with Glenn [Frey] and Randy [Meisner],"Don Henley said before bassist Timothy B. Schmit sang lead vocals on "Come Monday," a song Buffett wrote about longtime spouse Jane Slagsvol.
Afterwards, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh put on a parrot hat —a nod to Buffett's devoted Parrothead fanbase— before belting out "Fins."
"Jimmy and I got thrown out of some of the finest hotels in the world," Walsh said beforehand.
The Eagles and Buffett mutual admiration society dates back to at least a 1975 bill they shared in Columbia, SC.
"Mixed emotions were flowing, fear, excitement and a lot of 'what ifs' were running through my head when the door suddenly opened, and in walked Glenn Frey," Buffett told Billboard in 2016. "That was the first time we met. He greeted me and the band warmly, thanked us for being there, and said to me how much he loved 'A Pirate Looks at 40.' He wished us luck and then went back out the door. That was the beginning of a long and lovely friendship."
Four years later, Buffett sang backup vocals on "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks," a Paul McCartney-esque preview of new wave from the Eagles album The Long Run.
In 1998, Buffett inducted the country-rock greats into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"I was the apprentice in the workshop, and I was glad to be there," Buffett said during his speech. "It was the little things I was privileged to witness backstage that helped me survive and become a better performer."
