Florence Welch Covers “Margaritaville” With Jimmy Buffet

Florence + the Machine made appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to support and promote the release of their fifth album Dance Fever, which was released May 13, 2022. Vocalist Florence Welch even made appearances outside of the band’s musical contributions to the show. 

Welch participated in one of Fallon’s segment on her first night called “Audition Suggestion Box.” For the segment, Fallon reads suggestions ranging from the absurd to the genuine, from James “magically” placing a hat on his head to a call for Jimmy Buffett to perform onstage. Buffett strolled onstage clad with a ukulele and sang a snippet of his famed song “Margaritaville.” In the final request from the Box, Fallon asked Welch to sing the song as well. 

Florence then performed the song without the Machine — that is, without the rest of the band —and was joined shortly thereafter by Fallon and Buffett in her rendition of the song. The trio took on the 1977 hit song in a playful collaboration with Buffett strumming his ukulele. 

Watch the clip here:

Also on the first night of their appearance on The Tonight Show, Welch and band performed “My Love,” a single off of the then-upcoming album. Mxdwn writer Tara Mobasher describes the song as “an energetic combination that stays true to the album’s name, making listeners want to dance through exhaustion.” 

They returned to the show the following night, May 12, and performed another single off of the album. “King” describes Welch’s complex relationship with gender. The general theme of the song can be felt in the lines: “I am no mother/I am no bride/I am king.”

Following the release of Dance Fever, Florence + the Machine will soon be embarking on tour for the album. The tour begins in September in Montreal and will end in mid-October in Los Angeles. 

Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried

Abigail Lee: I'm a sophomore at the University of Missouri studying journalism, women's and gender studies and French. I write for Mxdwn's music section, and I'm an opinion writer for The Maneater, a student publication at MU. I also have experience writing advice columns. I enjoy writing about entertainment, social issues and the overlap between the two.
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