Jimmy Buffett

James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical music sound blending country, rock, folk, calypso, and his persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapism." It promoted enjoying life and following passions. Buffett recorded many hit songs, including those known as "The Big 8": "Margaritaville" (1977), which is ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century"; "Come Monday" (1974); "Fins" (1979); "Volcano" (1979); "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (1974); "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (1978); "Why Don't We Get Drunk" (1973); and "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977). His other popular songs include "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (1978), "One Particular Harbour" (1983), and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson (2003). Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band in 1975.

Of over 30 albums released by Buffett, eight are certified gold and nine others are certified platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. He sold over 20 million certified records worldwide. In addition to two Grammy Award nominations, Buffett was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in the Musical Excellence category in 2024.

Buffett parlayed the "island escapism" lifestyle of his music into several business ventures including the Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant chain, the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain which is defunct, and ventures in hotels, casinos, liquor, and retirement communities. He was a bestselling author. Buffett's estate was estimated to be worth $275 million. His devoted fans are known as "Parrotheads".

Buffett was born on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi and lived for part of his childhood in Mobile and Fairhope, Alabama. He was the son of Mary Lorraine (née Peets; died September 25, 2003) and James Delaney Buffett Jr. (died May 1, 2003), who worked for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He had two younger sisters, Laurie (born 1948) and Lucy (born 1953). As a child, he was exposed to sailing: his grandfather, James Delaney Buffett, was a steamship captain from Newfoundland, and his father was a marine engineer and sailor—these experiences later influenced his music. He was educated by Jesuits as a Catholic and served as an altar boy.

In 1961, after seeing a folk music ensemble perform in Biloxi, Mississippi, Buffett realized that he wanted to be a musician. His first performance was a month later at a hootenanny, where he played a Stella guitar. He attended St. Ignatius Catholic School in Mobile, where he played the trombone in the school band at eight in the 1950s. He graduated from McGill Institute (a high school) in the city in 1964.

Buffett enrolled at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama and was taught how to play guitar by a Sigma Pi fraternity brother to "garner attention from girls". He flunked out of Auburn after a year, in April 1966, "unable to balance his newfound interests in music and girls with his college classes". In 1966, Buffett played acid rock in a band called the Upstairs Alliance which attempted to emulate the sound of Jefferson Airplane. He continued college at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1969, where during his time there he also joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity. In college, Buffett worked in a shipyard as an electrician and welder. He avoided serving in the Vietnam War due to a college deferment, and a failed physical exam.

After graduating in 1969, Buffett moved to New Orleans and often held street performances for tourists on Decatur Street. Additionally, he played for drunken crowds in the former Bayou Room nightclub on Bourbon Street. In 1970, he moved to Nashville to further his country music career. Buffett did not have much luck with music jobs but found work as an editorial assistant for Billboard, where he was the first to report that the bluegrass duo Flatt and Scruggs had disbanded. He signed a two-album contract with Barnaby Records. He released his first album, the country-tinged folk rock record Down to Earth, in August 1970; it sold 324 copies. The masters of his second album, High Cumberland Jubilee, were recorded in 1971 in Berry Hill, Tennessee. They were allegedly lost by the label before the album was released, although they were found in 1976, after Buffett became popular.

In the fall of 1971, after an impromptu audition, Buffett was hired by the Exit/In, a Nashville club, as the opening act for recording artist Dianne Davidson. Unhappy with the business climate in Nashville and with his first marriage heading for divorce, Buffett accepted an offer by fellow country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, whom he had met while working as a journalist in Nashville, for lodging in his house in Coconut Grove. In November 1971, they went to Key West on a busking expedition; Buffett liked it so much that he moved there in the spring of 1972. There, Buffett got involved in the literary scene, meeting writers Thomas McGuane (who married Buffett's sister), Jim Harrison, Tom Corcoran, and Truman Capote; sex and drugs were plentiful. Buffett was hired by David Wolkowsky, playing for drinks at the Chart Room Bar in the Pier House Motel. There, Buffett met his second wife. From a connection he made there, Buffett was hired as the first mate on the yacht of industrialist Foster Talge, heir to The Rival Company, which became his day job. In 1973, Buffett signed a recording contract with ABC/Dunhill Records, then run by Don Gant. After Jim Croce died in a plane crash in September 1973, Dunhill promoted Buffett as a replacement.

Buffett's second release and his first on ABC/Dunhill was A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, recorded at Tompall Glaser's Glaser Sound recording studio on Music Row and released in June 1973. The album featured the hit singles "Grapefruit—Juicy Fruit" and "Why Don't We Get Drunk" as well as "I Have Found Me a Home", written about his experiences in Key West. Buffett used the money he made from the album to buy his first boat. Living & Dying in 3/4 Time, recorded in October 1973 and released in February 1974, deviated from the island-theme of Buffett's other albums. It included "Come Monday", written for his then-girlfriend and future wife, his first single to place on the Billboard Hot 100. A1A, released in December 1974, included "A Pirate Looks at Forty", written about a drug smuggler. In 1975, Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band. He credits his future wife for cleaning up their look, replacing their ripped Levi jeans and collarless shirts. The band was the opening act for the Eagles in August 1975.

Havana Daydreamin', produced by Don Gant, was released in January 1976. In January 1977, Buffett released Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which, in addition to the title track, featured his breakthrough hit song "Margaritaville". Buffett claims that he wrote most of the song in six minutes. Ironically, while it attempts to negatively portray tourists in Key West, it led to an increase in tourism to the city. That year, Buffett sublet his apartment in Key West to Hunter S. Thompson.

Buffett first traveled to Saint Barthélemy in 1978 and moved there shortly thereafter, where he got the inspiration for songs and characters in his books. In March 1978, Buffett released Son of a Son of a Sailor. In addition to the title track, it featured "Cheeseburger in Paradise", which reached number 32 on the Hot 100. In August 1979, he released Volcano, which included "Fins" and the title track.

Buffett wrote three books, all of which placed on The New York Times Best Seller list. Tales from Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? both spent over seven months on The New York Times Best Seller fiction list. His memoir A Pirate Looks at Fifty, published in 1998, went straight to number one on the New York Times Best Seller nonfiction list, making him one of the few authors to have reached number one on both the fiction and nonfiction lists.

Buffett also co-wrote two children's books, The Jolly Mon and Trouble Dolls, with his eldest daughter, Savannah Buffett. The original hardcover release of The Jolly Mon included a cassette tape recording of the two reading the story accompanied by an original score written by Michael Utley.

Buffett's novel A Salty Piece of Land was released on November 30, 2004, and the first edition of the book included a CD single of the song "A Salty Piece of Land." The book was a New York Times best seller soon after its release.

Buffett's last title, Swine Not?, was released on May 13, 2008.

Buffett wrote the soundtrack for, co-produced, and played a role in, the 2006 film Hoot, directed by Wil Shriner and based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, which focused on issues important to Buffett, such as conservation. The film was not a critical or commercial success.

In 1990 he contributed the song, "Don't Bug Me" to the Arachnophobia soundtrack. Among his other film music credits are the theme song to the short-lived 1993 CBS television series Johnny Bago; "Turning Around" for the 1985 film Summer Rental starring John Candy; "I Don't Know (Spicoli's Theme)" for the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High; "Hello, Texas" for the 1980 John Travolta film Urban Cowboy; and "If I'm Gonna Eat Somebody (It Might As Well Be You)" for the animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, which was sung in the film by rap artist Tone Loc.

Buffett made cameo appearances in Repo Man, Hook, Cobb, Hoot, Congo, and From the Earth to the Moon. He also made cameo appearances as himself in Rancho Deluxe (for which he also wrote the music) and in FM.

Buffett appeared on the Sesame Street special, Elmopalooza, singing "Caribbean Amphibian" with Kermit the Frog.

Buffett portrayed helicopter pilot Frank Bama in seven episodes of the 2010 reboot of Hawaii Five-0, from 2011 to 2020.

In 1994, Buffett began developing a musical based on Herman Wouk's 1965 novel, Don't Stop the Carnival. Buffett wrote the music and lyrics and Wouk wrote the book for the show. Don't Stop the Carnival debuted in Miami, Florida, in 1997 to negative reviews from critics. The show ran only for six weeks in Miami.

Escape to Margaritaville, a musical, ran at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego from May 2017 to July 2017. The show then performed limited runs in New Orleans, Houston, and Chicago, and was well received by critics. The show features a book by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley and uses Buffett's classic songs, some of which he rewrote the lyrics to in order to better fit in the context of the story. The show began previews at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway on February 16, 2018, and officially opened on March 15 under the direction of Tony winner Christopher Ashley. The Broadway production received mixed reviews from New York critics and closed on July 1 after 29 previews and 124 regular performances. A national tour launched in Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall of 2019.

Buffett took advantage of the tropical "island escapism" lifestyle that fans of his music sought by launching several business ventures to sell this lifestyle to his fans. Through his Margaritaville brand, Buffett licensed hotels, casinos, cruise experiences, restaurants and bars, packaged foods, beverages, spirits, outdoor furniture, home goods, appliances, and apparel and accessories.

In 1984, Buffett and a friend opened a T-shirt shop and expanded it into the first Margaritaville Cafe, in Gulf Shores, Alabama. After it failed, in 1985, they tried again in Key West, expanding it to what became Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in 1987. The chain opened restaurants under the Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill names in locations including Atlantic City, New Orleans, Nashville, the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Las Vegas, Jamaica, Orlando, and Baltimore. The Margaritaville cafe on the Las Vegas strip was possibly the highest grossing restaurant in the U.S.

Buffett previously owned the Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant chain, founded in 2002 in partnership with Bloomin' Brands; it was sold to Luby's for $11 million in 2012 and shut down in 2020.

In 1992, Buffett launched Margaritaville Records, with distribution through MCA Records. His MCA record deal ended in 1996. In 1999, he started Mailboat Records to release live albums.

Buffett sought and received a concert sponsorship from Corona; the partnership was credited for increasing sales of the brand. After deciding that he wanted his own beer brand, Buffett partnered with Anheuser-Busch in 2006 to brew Landshark Lager, now one of the Anheuser-Busch brands.

In 1981, the Save the Manatee Club, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded by Buffett and former Florida governor Bob Graham. In 1986, Buffett began work to introduce the "Save the Manatee" license plate, featuring an image of a West Indian manatee, with proceeds going to the Save the Manatee Club. Buffett was also a major donor to the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory.

In 1987, Buffett lobbied for the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Buffett enjoyed playing for U.S. troops; he played at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 2002.

Buffett performed at several hurricane relief concerts including the Surviving the Storm hurricane relief concert in November 2004, which raised funds to support relief efforts for the four major hurricanes that year: Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Ivan, and Hurricane Jeanne and a hurricane relief concert in November 2017 with Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith.

In January 2008, Buffett performed a concert in Hong Kong that raised funds for the Foreign Correspondents' Club Charity Fund to support needy children.