Cheeseburger in Paradise

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"Cheeseburger in Paradise"

Song by Jimmy Buffett
from the album 'Son of a Son of a Sailor'
Released	March 1978
Genre	Country rock
Length	2:51
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Jimmy Buffett
Producer(s)	Jimmy Buffett
Chart positions
32

This article deals with the popular song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." For the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain named for the song, see: Cheeseburger in Paradise (restaurant).

"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" has become one of Buffett's best-known songs and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.

According to Buffett's Margaritaville web site, the "myth of the cheeseburger in paradise" was inspired by a boat journey Buffett once took in the Caribbean. Buffett states that while subsisting on canned food and peanut butter, he envisioned eating a "piping hot cheeseburger". He reports that upon finally arriving in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, he was surprised to find a restaurant serving American cheeseburgers:

...we gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked and what we wanted on them -- to which little attention was paid. It didn't matter. The overdone burgers on the burned, toasted buns tasted like manna from heaven, for they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip. [1]

In 2002, Buffett's company Margaritaville Holdings LLC licensed the name of the song to OSI Restaurant Partners as the name of the Buffett-themed Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. As of 2006, the restaurant has 38 locations in 17 states in the United States.

A Cheeseburger in Paradise is also a menu item at Buffett-owned Margaritaville Cafes located in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean.