Was Jimmy Buffett's death hastened by his fervor over the COVID-19 vaccine?

The role of immune suppression in Merkel Cell Carcinoma

The news is reporting that Jimmy Buffet died from Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive form of skin cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2019. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, MCC is a particularly aggressive type of skin cancer, estimated to be 40 times rarer than melanoma. MCC has a high rate of recurrence and metastasis, “often within two to three years after initial diagnosis.” Five year survival rates vary vastly depending on multiple contributing factors.

Research indicates that Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) is strongly associated with Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCV), with the virus being found in 80% of MCC tumor cells. MCC is also strongly associated with immunodeficiency syndromes. The virus itself is ubiquitous and it is estimated that virtually EVERYONE contracts MCV by the time they are in their teens. For most people, the virus is kept in check by their immune system. The incidence of MCC correlates with over-exposure to the sun, as is the case with other forms of skin cancer. Other factors that increase risk of MCC are increased age, being male and white, and having a severely compromised immune system, including people who have undergone organ transplant and those with lymphoma and/or HIV/AIDS.

Jimmy Buffett was certainly a candidate for MCC. It is known that he loved the sun, the water, and all things beachy. He was an island guy. A sailing guy. He spent time in his youth working on a sailboat. All of that fits. What doesn’t really fit is the immune deficiency component. At least not from the outside and in absence of more personal health information. To my knowledge, Jimmy was an avid performer and entertainer. His tours were extensive and, I’m sure, grueling. Having a daughter who has an immune deficiency syndrome, I know the toll stress takes on her body. I cannot imagine her ever being able to keep up with the demands of a single concert tour, much less doing it year after year for decades, as JB did.

In the development of MCC, it is hypothesized that the interaction between the virus on the skin and repeated over-exposure to the sun (especially burns that result in peeling layers of skin) results in the proliferation of the virus, leading to oncogenic effects. The immune system modulates this process, and inflammation is a trigger promoting oncogenic activity. You can read more about the progression of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus to Merkel Cell Carcinoma here.

Research has shown that in particular, Type 1 Interferon is especially important in the prevention and treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma. So, a healthy immune system and the ability of Type 1 Interferon to respond to MCV is very important in preventing MCV from progressing to MCC, and once someone has been diagnosed with Merkel Cell Carcinoma, immune therapies that utilize Type 1 Interferon can be especially helpful in keeping the cancer from progressing.

Jimmy was enamored with the mRNA vaccine and thanked the developers at his first concert after a 14 month break during the height of the pandemic. During the final minutes of the July 6, 2021 concert in Nashville, he told the crowd of Parrotheads:

"There were days when I didn't know whether or where we would ever play again. But we made it here, and I just have to thank people like this band, this crew, first responders, healthcare workers (and) the mRNA researchers who made the vaccine, and made it possible for us to play for you tonight. Get that vaccine. That's what happened. Fun is back in the world because of that."

Jimmy was such a believer in the COVID-19 vaccine that he went so far as to require proof of vaccination (or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours) as a condition of attendance at his concerts. I just feel the need to mention here that from what I have gathered, the vast majority of his concerts were held outside.

We can surmise from his comments that he took at least the initial two doses of the mRNA injections and that the timing would have been sometime between January and April of 2021, since his first “off-tour” concert took place on May 13, 2021.

Judging from concert photos in the summer of 2021, Jimmy certainly looks healthy.

Unfortunately, Jimmy Buffett’s exuberance and apparent robust health in July of 2021 was short-lived. His 2021 tour dates appear to have gone off without too much interruption, at least for those concerts that took place in the United States. He did cancel the European leg of the tour, possibly due to ongoing restrictions impacting international travel at that time. The cancelations do not appear to have been health-related, as the rest of the tour dates seem to have been fulfilled.

The 2022 Tour began with twenty concerts in the United States between April 6th and August 13th. Sometime after the August 13th concert, Buffett was hospitalized and on September 2nd, he announced he was cancelling the remainder of the 2022 tour.

By February 9, 2023, Buffett was touring again and played nine concerts, with his last taking place on May 6, 2023. The following photo is from that concert.

Jimmy Buffett performing at his last concert, May 6, 2023.

Four months later he was dead. Many people, me included, are wondering if the mRNA injections may have shortened his life. As noted at the beginning of this post, Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) is a particularly aggressive kind of cancer, with a high rate of metastases within 2-3 years of diagnosis. Jimmy Buffett was diagnosed in 2019 and he died in 2023. His death occurred between 3-4 years after diagnosis. For that reason, I believe it is impossible to say whether or not he would still be here, had he not chosen to be injected. However, it is a valid question to ponder…

As Stephanie Seneff has documented in her research, the immune response to mRNA injections is vast and the negative effects are significant. One area that is damaged is the ability of Interferon to do its job in controlling the replication of RNA viruses. Merkel Cell Polyomavirus is an RNA virus. The injection also impairs DNA repair mechanisms, all of which increase the risk and progression of cancers. In the case of MCC, research indicates that Type 1 Interferon, in particular, is very important in keeping MCV-related oncogenesis in check.

So, assuming that JB was undergoing the absolute best treatment possible (since money was no object), it is reasonable to assume that his MCC was being controlled as well as possible - until something changed that. As someone who has been following the reports on increased deaths from cancers along with heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots, the timing troubles me. I also cannot deny that according to what I have learned today about Merkel Cell Carcinoma, it is certainly possible that it may have just been time. With this one, we will likely never know. And as a huge fan of his music, I am somewhat comforted to know that maybe, perhaps, it wasn’t the shot that took him.

Another question that is not so easily set aside is, “How many of his fans have died or have been severely disabled because they took the shot he pushed them to receive?”

I know many people personally who took it for things that were a whole lot less fun than a Jimmy Buffett concert. One was my best friend’s 23-year-old son. He took it so he could attend a camp. Two weeks after his second dose of the Pfizer shot, he had a grand mal seizure during which he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone when it happened and the person with him knew CPR. If he had been alone, he would not have lived. He had no prior history of seizures. Eighteen months later, he laid down to take a nap and never woke up. He was 25 when he died. And just as has happened with all of the people whose fame, or whose money and power allowed them to influence others to engage in risky medical procedures, nobody will ever be held accountable.