However, later canon sources (including the reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and the Star Wars website’s Databank) confirm that by jumping or falling off the barge before it blew up. He is alive and well in the current timeline, and he has even appeared in post-Return of the Jedi comics and novels (such as Aftermath: Empire’s End ), continuing his career as a famous musician.

Based on Star Wars canon (the current continuity as of 2014 and beyond),

He survived the explosion of Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge over the Great Pit of Carkoon.

He also survived. In that timeline, he wasn't even on the barge during the explosion—he had gone back to the palace to retrieve his keyboard.

The misconception comes from the 1983 film Return of the Jedi . While the blue elephant-like Ortolan musician is shown on the sail barge before the battle, you don't see him escape. Many fans assumed he was killed when the barge exploded.

So, for both major continuities: