Best Known As: Singer of the pop hit "Margaritaville"
Jimmy Buffett's Caribbean-tinged single "Margaritaville" (1977) established him as a cheerful musical advocate for beaches, bars and laid-back living. Never exactly a dominant figure in pop music, Buffett instead proved to be an enduring star in his own tropical niche, strumming wistful, boozy tunes about sailors, dreamers and lowlifes with titles like "Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise." He and his Coral Reefer band toured regularly throughout the 1980s and 1990s and into the 21st century, playing to crowds of devoted fans known as Parrotheads. Buffett has released more than two dozen albums, including A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973), Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977), Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978) and Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads (1994). He also has had success as a writer of books, penning the memoir A Pirate Looks at Fifty (1998), the short story collection Tales From Margaritaville (1989) and the whimsical novel Where Is Joe Merchant? (1992).
Buffett owns a chain of Margaritaville Cafes... His duet with Alan Jackson, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," hit #1 on the country music charts and won "Vocal Event of the Year" at the 2003 Country Music Awards... Buffett earned a bachelor's degree in history from Southern Mississippi University... He married the former Margie Washichek in 1969; the couple split two years later. He married his second wife, the former Jane Slagsvol, in 1977... According to Buffett, the term "Parrotheads" originated as a cheerful takeoff on "Deadheads," the name given to fans of The Grateful Dead.
Born James William Buffett on December 25, 1946, in Pascogoula, MS; son of James Delaney (a shipwright) and Lorraine (Peets) Buffett; married and divorced; married second wife, Jane Slagsvol, 1977; children: daughters Savannah Jane, Sarah Delaney, son Cameron Marley. Education: Attended Auburn University, 1964; University of Southern Mississippi, B.S., 1969.
Singer, songwriter, and author. Began performing as a folk singer in clubs in New Orleans and around the Gulf Coast, mid-1960s; country singer, Nashville, TN, c. 1969-71; released debut album, Down to Earth, Barnaby, 1970; formed Coral Reefer Band, 1975. Billboard publications, Nashville, TN, writer, c. 1969-73; author of novels, autobiography, and books for children, 1988-. Contributor to Inside Sports, Outside, Miami Herald, and Smart; appeared in films Rancho Deluxe, 1974, and FM, 1977; founder, Singing for Change charitable foundation, 1995; member, Greenpeace Foundation (honorary director), Cousteau Society, Save the Manatee Commission of Florida (chair).
Addresses:Office—c/o Margaritaville Records, 54 Music Sq. E., Ste. 303, Nashville, TN 37203, and 1880 Century Park E., Ste. 900, Los Angeles, CA 90067. Agent—Morton Janklow, 598 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022. Website-Jimmy Buffett Official Website: http://www.margaritaville.com.
Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Songster and storyteller Jimmy Buffett is adored by fans for his easy-going, infectious tunes that represent "escape from the humdrum world to a land of balmy breezes where frozen concoctions buzz in the blender, the beach is never crowded, and life is a perpetual party," as described by Alanna Nash in Entertainment Weekly. A mix of pop, rock, country, and sometimes salsa or calypso, Buffett’s music motivates fans to show up at concerts in character, carrying lounge chairs and wearing Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, and stuffed parrots perched on their shoulders, thus leading to their affectionate nickname "Parrot Heads." His 1977 hit, "Margaritaville," from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, established his trademark image of the humorous, laid-back, guitar-strumming wanderer, and his subsequent releases continued to play up this milieu, evoking scenes of coconut-heavy palms, tide-washed beaches, seaside watering holes, and the like. Buffett truly lives quite a bit of the life he sings of, enjoying toys like two seaplanes and a Citation II jet as well as a sailboat named after his daughter. His concerts attract a wide range of people drawn to his escapist music, from college frat boys to those bordering on retirement, and an array of ages and social classes in between.
Although he portrays himself as the perennial beach bum, Buffett perhaps has more capitalist in him than he lets on; it could be in his blood, since billionaire investor Warren Buffett is a distant cousin. In any case, he knew he had struck a chord with his pop-rock melodies of beachscapes, seafaring, and the good life in general. Consequently, he used this to lay the foundation for a business empire consisting of stores hawking his own Hawaiian shirts, Margarita mix, and salt shakers to an expanding family of Margaritaville Cafes and Cheeseburger in Paradise joints in cities like New Orleans, Louisiana, Orlando, Florida, and Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, the former journalist has cracked the literature market as well, writing best-selling novels and memoirs as well as a couple of books for children. In 1998, Buffett released the autobiographical A Pirate Looks at Fifty, which hit number one on the New York Times’s best-seller list.
Buffett was born the son of James Delaney Buffett and Lorraine (Peets) Buffett on December 25, 1946, in Pascogoula, Mississippi, and raised in Mobile, Alabama. Early on, Buffett was enchanted with his nautical roots; his father worked as a naval architect in the Gulf of Mexico region and himself was the son of a sailor. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a naval officer, but Buffett forged a different path, enrolling at Auburn University to study journalism. Because he was attending college and failed a physical, he never served in Vietnam.
After attending Catholic schools throughout his youth, Buffett was itching to roam and see the world, so he left his college studies to venture to the party town of New Orleans. There, he performed folk songs in clubs and
began to write his own material. Eventually, he went back to school at the University of Southern Mississippi and obtained his bachelor of science degree in 1969.
Dreamt of Career in Music After graduating, Buffett moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1969, with dreams of kickstarting his musical career. He landed a day job at Billboard magazine there in the late 1960s, suddenly finding himself thrust into a high-profile music industry career. As he recalled in his book, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, excerpted in Rolling Stone, "I had gone from just another nobody songwriter who couldn’t get his foot into a music publisher’s door into assistant Southern editor of Billboard. Hell, people took me to lunch, I had business cards. I flew to New York for editorial meetings."
While working the only so-called real job he would ever hold, Buffett continued to perform in clubs around Nashville and managed to release an album in 1970 on the Barnaby label. This country-folk release was a sales dud, and his second album never even hit the shelves when the label misplaced the master tape. In about 1971, after a failed first marriage, he headed to Los Angeles for a while before ending up in Key West, Florida, which Eric Pooley in Time described as "then a lazy outpost for shrimpers, smugglers, gays and cosmic cowboys like singer Jerry Jeff Walker and novelist Tom McGuane, who ended up married to Buffett’s sister Laurie."
Living on a ketch and tooling around the area’ islands, Buffett found his niche. He penned colorful tunes about life in the Keys that blended folk, rock, and country elements, and played in bars while hoping to snag another recording deal. Though he once remarked in a 1979 Rolling Stone cover story that he was also occupied with marijuana smuggling during this time, he later recanted the boast when the authorities questioned him. In 1973 Dunhill released his third album, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. Despite the groan-inducing word play of the title, it enjoyed decent success, as did his next release, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time. Pooley in Time noted he was the "Prince of Key West" by this point, and by 1975 Buffett was well-known enough to provide the soundtrack for a film, Rancho Deluxe, in which he also appeared. Also that year he formed his backup group, The Coral Reefer Band.
Shot to Stardom with Changes in Latitudes In 1977 Buffett shot to stardom with the platinum album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which climbed both the country and pop charts. Its hit single, Margaritaville, with its lazy but catchy melody, related a story about drinking to forget a failed relationship, but its descriptive beach scenes tempered its melancholy aspects. The song’s refrain, "Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville / Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt," alternated with amusing lines like "I blew out my flip-flop / Stepped on a pop top."
Surprisingly, despite Buffett’s ongoing popularity, Margaritaville would represent the only top ten single of his career. Other songs on the album similarly related anecdotes that sounded like they were transcribed from the journal of a beachcomber, peppered with lyrics about palm trees, sailing, parties, and sun worship. This would form the basis of his laid-back image which drew legions of fans to his concerts in the coming decades, and songs like "Cheeseburger in Paradise" solidified this. Buffett also would become a favorite of young party enthusiasts with favorites such as "Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw)?" and "My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, and I Don’t Love Jesus." However, he ventured into more serious ballads with songs like "Son of a Son of a Sailor."
By 1984, Buffett’s career was sagging, and searching for a gust of wind for his sails, he approached Corona beer to sponsor his concerts. With its fiesta-like image and appeal to young consumers, the deal was mutually beneficial. Corona boosted its chunk of the market from two percent to 17 percent between 1984 and 1988, and Buffett saw his popularity rebound as well. In 1992, his four-CD Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads, recorded on his own Margaritaville Records label which he founded that same year, became the best-selling boxed set in the history of MCA Records, which distributed the release. His concert dates often sold out, and he became one of the most successful live artists on the circuit, taking in about $25 million each year from his annual tours.
Although he has produced a few gold and a couple of platinum albums, Buffett is generally not a chart-topper, but has a core group of admirers and pounced on this to create a Buffett-themed multimillion dollar empire. With the birth of his Margaritaville Cafe in Key West, he combined his musical wares, a restaurant/bar, and retail goods. In addition to the requisite T-shirts, tapes, and CDs, he also sold clothing, books, and souvenirs, like the "lost shaker of salt" referred to in "Margaritaville" and pillows in the shape of cheeseburgers. Sales from his Margaritaville Cafes were estimated at $6 million in 1998.
All in all, Buffett is one of the wealthiest entertainers in business, but in addition to spending freely on leisure items, he also gives generously to charity. He is involved in environmental groups such as the Greenpeace Foundation (he serves as their honorary director), the Cousteau Society, and the Save the Manatee Commission of Florida (for which he acts as chair). In addition, in 1995 he founded Singing for Change, which is funded with $1 from each concert ticket sold. The foundation returns one half of the money raised from each venue to small nonprofits in concert cities, puts one quarter aside for organizations in other regions, and sets aside one quarter for future use. The project generally tries to fund groups relating to children and families, disenfranchised people, and environmental causes.
Literary Talents In 1989, realizing that he had a treasure trove of ideas and experiences to draw upon, Buffett decided to compose a book. The result was Tales from Margaritaville: Fictional Facts and Factual Fictions, which combined short stories and autobiographical anecdotes. Most of the inclusions were fictional and centered on life on the ocean, but four of the pieces dealt with Buffett’s life from his upbringing through his celebrity stage. This release clung to the New York Times best-seller list for seven months. Subsequently, Buffett tried his hand at a full-length novel in 1992 titled Where Is Joe Merchant?, about a rock star who disappears in the Caribbean and his sister, who tries to track him down with the help of her ex-boyfriend, a swashbuckling pilot. This, too, reached best-seller status.
In 1995, Buffett began working with Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk, known for epic novels like The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War, to create a musical adaptation of Don’t Stop the Carnival, the author’s 1965 work about a philandering New York agent who moves to the Caribbean to run a hotel. In May of 1997 the collaboration opened at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida, and its accompanying album was released in 1998. While the show was deemed not quite ready for Broadway, it enjoyed a decent run in Florida, and the book became the most commercially successful of Wouk’s career.
Scoring yet another coup as a writer, Buffett in 1998 released a full-length memoir, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, which was a best-seller for five weeks with half a million hardcovers sold. During the book’s second week on the charts, it hit the number one spot, making Buffett one of only six writers to reach the top peg on the New York Times’ fiction and nonfiction charts (in the company of others like Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck, not to mention Dr. Seuss). In addition to all of these projects, Buffett was also credited, along with his eldest daughter, Savannah Jane, with writing the children’s books The Jolly Mon, 1988, and Trouble Dolls, 1991. Both contain the familiar tropical settings that are his trademark and tell tales of adventure sprinkled with folkloric and fantasy elements. He also continued releasing albums during the 1990s, which included the live album Feeding Frenzy, boxed set Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads, Fruitcakes, Barometer Soup, Banana Wind, holiday album Christmas Island, Don’t Stop the Carnival, Beach House on the Moon, and Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. In 2002, Buffett released Far Side of the World.
Buffett was married for the second time in 1977 to Jane Slagsvol, a woman he met in a bar in Key West when she was on spring break from the University of South Carolina. The Eagles played their wedding reception, and the two had their first daughter, Savannah Jane, and lived the high life for five years until Jane decided to take a break, sober up, and find her own way in life for a while. They got back together in 1991 and had two more children—another daughter, Sarah Delaney, and a son, Cameron Marley. They have homes in Palm Beach, Florida (they moved out of Key West in the late 1990s); Sag Harbor, New York; and Nashville, Tennessee; as well as a 500-acre plantation in southern Georgia bordering on 6,000 more acres of land where Buffett likes to hunt. Though he enjoys hobnobbing with other notables, Buffett’s wife told Pooley in Time, "If I didn’t force him to go out, he would be a total recluse. He is self-contained: up early, writing or fishing or boating or flying, making pancakes for the kids, driving them to school or camp, playing tennis or working out. That’s the life he loves."
Selected discography Down to Earth, Barnaby, 1970. High Cumberland Jubilee, Barnaby, 1972. A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, Dunhill, 1973. A-1-A, Dunhill, 1974. Living and Dying in 3/4 Time, Dunhill, 1974. Rancho Deluxe (soundtrack), United Artists, 1975. Havana Daydreamin’, ABC, 1976. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, ABC, 1977. You Had to Be There: Jimmy Buffet In Concert, MCA, 1978. Son of a Son of a Sailor, ABC, 1978. Volcano, MCA, 1979. Coconut Telegraph, MCA, 1981. Somewhere over China, MCA, 1981. One Particular Harbour, MCA, 1983. Riddles in the Sand, MCA, 1984. Last Mango in Paris, MCA, 1985. Songs You Know by Heart: Jimmy Buffett’s Greatest Hits, MCA, 1985. Floridays, MCA, 1986. Hot Water, MCA, 1988. Off to See the Lizard, MCA, 1989. Feeding Frenzy (live album), MCA, 1990. Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads (four-CD boxed set), Margaritaville/Polygram, 1992. Before the Beach (reissue of Down to Earth and High Cumberland Jubilee), Margaritaville, 1993. Fruitcakes, Margaritaville/Polygram, 1994. Barometer Soup, MCA, 1995. Banana Wind, MCA Nashville, 1996. Christmas Island (holiday music), MCA, 1997. Don’t Stop the Carnival, Margaritaville/Polygram, 1998. Beach House on the Moon, Margaritaville/Polygram, 1999. Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Mailboat, 1999. Far Side of the World, Mailboat, 2002.
Selected writings (With daughter, Savannah Jane Buffett) The Jolly Mon (for children), illustrated by Lambert Davis, Harcourt, 1988.
Tales from Margaritaville: Fictional Facts and Factual Fictions (short story and autobiographical sketch collection), Harcourt, 1989.
Where Is Joe Merchant? A Novel Tale (novel), Harcourt, 1992.
Daybreak on the Equator, Random House Large Print, 1997.
A Pirate Looks at Fifty, Random House, 1998.
(With Jeffrey Cardenas) Sea Level: Adventures of a Saltwater Angler, Meadow Run, 2002.
Sources Books Mote, Dave, editor, Contemporary Popular Writers, St. James Press, 1997. Newsmakers 1999, Issue 3, Gale Group, 1999.
Periodicals Billboard, July 22, 1995, p. 10; September 12, 1998, p. 9. Entertainment Weekly, July 13, 1990, p. 50. Forbes, January 16, 1995, p. 84. Indiana Business Manager, September 2002. Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, December 6, 2002. Newsday August 28, 1995, p. B3. New Yorker, August 15, 1977, p. 23. New York Times, July 26, 1998; February 21, 1999, p. AR44. People, November 11, 1996, p. 39; October 19, 1998, p. 15. Playboy, February 1998, p. 80. Publishers Weekly, June 22, 1998, p. 24. Rolling Stone, October 4, 1979, p. 36; March 19, 1998, p. 53. Tampa Tribune, December 4, 1998. Time, August 17, 1998, p. 68. Variety, May 19, 1997, p. S37.
Jimmy Buffett translated his easygoing Gulf Coast persona into more than just a successful recording career -- he expanded into clothing, nightclubs, and literature -- but the basis of the business empire that kept him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers was his music. Born in southern Mississippi and raised in Alabama, Buffett moved to Nashville to try to make it in country music in the late '60s. After signing to the Barnaby label, he released one album, 1970's Down to Earth, from which the socially conscious single "The Christian?" suggested he might be more at home protesting in Greenwich Village. (Barnaby "lost" his second album, High Cumberland Jubilee, though they would find it and release it after he became successful.) Instead, the songwriter moved to Key West, FL, where he gradually evolved into the beach-bum character and developed the tropical folk-rock style that would endear him to millions.
Signing to ABC-Dunhill Record (later absorbed by MCA), Buffett achieved notoriety but not much else with his second (released) album, White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973), which featured a song called "Why Don't We Get Drunk" ("...and screw?" goes the chorus). Buffett revealed a more thoughtful side on Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (1974), with its song of marital separation "Come Monday," his first singles-chart entry. But it took the Top Ten song "Margaritaville" and the album in which it was featured, 1977's Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, to capture Buffett's tropical world view and, for a while, turn him into a pop star.
By the start of the '80s, Buffett's yearly albums had stopped going gold, and he briefly tried the country market again. But by the middle of the decade, it was his yearly summer tours that were filling his bank account, as a steadily growing core of Sun Belt fans he dubbed "Parrotheads" made his concerts into Mardi Gras-like affairs. Buffett launched his Margaritaville line of clothes and opened the first of his Margaritaville clubs in Key West. He also turned to fiction writing, landing on the book bestseller lists.
His recording career, meanwhile, languished, though a hits compilation sold millions; a 1990 live album, Feeding Frenzy, went gold; and a 1992 box-set retrospective, Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads, became one of the best-selling box sets ever. Buffett finally got around to making a new album in 1994, when Fruitcakes became one of his fastest-selling records. It was followed in 1995 by Barometer Soup and Banana Wind in 1996. The following year, Buffett began working on a musical adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel Don't Stop the Carnival with the author himself. After Broadway producers expressed little interest, the production ran for six weeks in Miami during 1997. In spring of 1998, Buffett released a collection of songs from the production as he began mulling over the idea of taking the play on the road. In 1999 he released Beach House on the Moon as well as Live: Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday.
During the first few years of the millennium, Buffett's newly launched Mailboat label issued close to a dozen concert recordings, as well as the 2002 studio album Far Side of the World. Two years later, Buffett allowed RCA to distribute his second Mailboat studio album, License to Chill. Live albums recorded in Hawaii and Boston appeared in 2005, followed by an all-new collection of songs called Take the Weather with You in 2006 and two more live sets, Live in Anguilla in 2007 and Feeding Frenzy: Live in 2008. In 2009, Buffett released Buffet Hotel, his first new studio album in years. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Jimmy Buffett aboard USS Harry S Truman, January 2008
James William "Jimmy" Buffett (December 25, 1946) is a singer-songwriter, film producer, and businessman. He is best known for his music and being best friends with Jeremy Colvin who co-wrote his hit "In The Shelter", which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" (No. 234 on RIAA's list of "Songs of the Century"), and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".
Buffett married Margie Washichek in 1969 and divorced in 1972. Buffett and his second wife Jane (Jane Slagsvol) have two daughters, Savannah Jane and Sarah Delaney, and an adopted son, Cameron Marley, and reside in Palm Beach, Florida. They were separated in the early 1980s; however, they reconciled in 1991. Buffett also owns a home in St Barts, a Caribbean island where he lived on and off in the early 1980s while he was part-owner of the Autour de Rocher hotel and restaurant. An avid pilot, Buffett has a flagship plane, a Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft with identifier N908JB, that he often uses while on concert tour and traveling worldwide.
His father, John Delaney Buffett, Jr. died in 2003 at the age of 83.
Music
Buffett began his musical career in Nashville, Tennessee during the late 1960s as a country artist and recorded his first album, the folk rockDown to Earth, in 1970. During this time Buffett could be frequently found busking for tourists in New Orleans. Country music singer Jerry Jeff Walker took him to Key West on a busking expedition in November, 1971.[2] Buffett then moved to Key West and began establishing the easy-going beach bum persona for which he is known. Following this move, Buffett combined country, folk, and pop music with coastal as well as tropical lyrical themes for a sound sometimes called "gulf and western". Today, he is a regular visitor to the Caribbean island of Saint Barts and other islands where he gets inspiration for many of his songs and some of the characters in his books.
With the untimely death of friend and mentor Jim Croce in September 1973, ABC Dunhill tapped Buffett to fill his space. Earlier, Buffett had visited Croce's farm in Pennsylvania and met with Croce in Florida.[3][4]
During the 1980s, Buffett made far more money from his tours than albums and became known as a popular concert draw. He released a series of albums during the following twenty years, primarily to his devoted audience, and also branched into writing and merchandising. In 1985, Buffett opened a "Margaritaville" retail store in Key West and then in 1987, the Margaritaville Cafe was opened. During the 1980s Buffett played at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He briefly changed the name of the band from "Coral Reefers" to the "Coral Reef Band" to suit the HLS&R's request as they thought "Reefers" was a drug related reference. HLS&R is a charity event that provides student grants to children and young adults that compete in agriculture contests (FFA).
Two of the more out-of-character albums were Christmas Island, a collection of Christmas songs, and Parakeets, a collection of Buffett songs sung by children and containing "cleaned-up" lyrics (like "a cold root beer" instead of "a cold draft beer").
In 1997, Buffett collaborated with novelist Herman Wouk to create a short-lived musical based on Wouk's novel, Don't Stop the Carnival. Broadway showed little interest in the play, (following the failure of Paul Simon's The Capeman) and it only ran for six weeks in Miami. He released an album of songs from the musical in 1998.
In August 2000 Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played on the White House lawn for then President Bill Clinton.
In 2003, he partnered in a partial duet with Alan Jackson for the song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", a number one hit on the country charts. This song won the 2003 Country Music Association Award for Vocal Event of the Year.[5] This was Buffett’s first award of any kind for his music in his 30 year career.
Buffett's album, License to Chill, released on 13 July 2004, sold 238,600 copies in its first week of release according to Nielsen SoundScan. With this, Buffett topped the U.S. pop albums chart for the first time in his three-decade career.
Buffett continues to tour throughout the year although he has shifted recently to a more relaxed schedule of around 20–30 dates, and rarely on back-to-back nights, preferring to play only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, thus the title of his 1999 live album Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Purchasing tickets is difficult with most of his concerts selling out in minutes. Although recently it was noted that many tickets remain for the Tampa show on March 30, 2012.
In the summer of 2005 Buffett teamed up with Sirius radio and introduced Radio Margaritaville, and as of November 2008 is also on XM radio channel 24[6]. Until this point Radio Margaritaville was solely an online channel. The channel broadcasts from the Margaritaville restaurant at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, Florida.
In August 2006, he released the album Take The Weather With You. The song "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On" on this album refers to 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Also on the album he pays tribute to Merle Haggard with his rendition of "Silver Wings" and covers, with Mark Knopfler playing on the track, "Whoop De Doo."
On 8 December 2009, Jimmy Buffett released his 28th studio album entitled Buffet Hotel.
On 20 April 2010, a double CD of performances recorded during the 2008 and 2009 tours called encores was released exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com and Margaritaville.com.
Of the over 30 albums Jimmy Buffett has released, as of October 2007, he has 8 Gold Albums and 9 Platinum or Multi Platinum Albums.[7] In 2003 Buffett won his first ever Country Music Award (CMA) for his song "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson, and was nominated again in 2007 for the CMA Event of the Year Award for his song "Hey Good Lookin" which featured Alan Jackson and George Strait.
Buffett also co-wrote two children's books, The Jolly Mon and Trouble Dolls, with his eldest daughter, Savannah Jane Buffett. The original hard cover release of The Jolly Mon included a cassette tape recording of him and Savannah Jane reading the story accompanied by an original score written by Michael Utley.
Buffett's novel A Salty Piece of Land, was released on 30 November 2004, and the first edition of the book included a CD single of the song "A Salty Piece Of Land", which was recorded for License to Chill. The book was a New York Times best seller soon after its release.
Buffett's latest title, Swine Not?, was released 13 May 2008.
Buffett is currently writing a follow-up to his autobiography A Pirate Looks at Fifty, which he says may take up to ten years to write and complete.
Jimmy Buffett quotation on Himank/BRO signboard in the Nubra Valley, Ladakh, Northern India
Buffett is one of several popular 'philosophers' whose quotations appear on the road signs of Project HIMANK in the Ladakh region of Northern India.
Film and television
Buffett wrote the soundtrack for, co-produced and acted in the 2006 film Hoot, directed by Wil Shriner and based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, which focuses on issues important to Buffett, such as conservation. The film was not a critical or commercial success. 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 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High; "Hello, Texas" for the 1980 John Travolta film Urban Cowboy; and "If I Have To Eat Someone (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.
In addition, Buffett has made several cameo appearances, including 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.[8] He made a Guest appearance in the season two of Hawaii Five-0 on CBS in 2011. Buffett reportedly was offered a cameo role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, but declined the offer.[9] In 1997, Buffett collaborated with novelist Herman Wouk on a musical production based on Wouk's 1965 novel Don't Stop the Carnival. In the South Park episode "Tonsil Trouble", an animated version of Buffett (but not voiced by Buffett) was seen singing "AIDSburger in Paradise" and "CureBurger in Paradise". Jimmy has also appeared on the Sesame Street special, Elmopalooza, singing "Caribbean Amphibian" with the popular Muppet, Kermit the Frog. Buffett appeared in an episode of Hawaii Five-O in November 2011. He played an helicopter pilot who piloted the craft to the rescue in the show. Another character mentioned that he preferred "margaritas",Buffett's character replied, "You can't argue with that."
Business ventures
Buffett has taken advantage of his name and the fan following for his music to launch several business ventures, usually with a tropical theme. He owns or licenses the Margaritaville Cafe and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chains. As a baseball fan, he was part-owner of two minor league teams: the Fort Myers Miracle and the Madison Black Wolf. Between his restaurants, album sales, and tours, he earns an estimated US$100 million a year.
In 1993, he launched Margaritaville Records, with distribution through MCA Records. His MCA record deal ended with the release of 1996's Christmas Island and he took Margaritaville Records over to Chris Blackwell's Island Records for a two record deal, 1998's Don't Stop The Carnival and 1999's Beach House On The Moon. In the fall of 1999, he started up Mailboat Records to release live albums. He partnered up with RCA Records for distribution in 2005 and 2006 for the two studio albums License To Chill and Take The Weather With You.
In 2006, Buffett launched a cooperative project with the Anheuser-Busch brewing company to produce his own beer under the Margaritaville Brewing label called Land Shark Lager.[10]
Another Margaritaville Casino was slated to be opening in Atlantic City, New Jersey but has been put on hold indefinitely.[11] Buffett has also licensed Margaritaville Tequila, Margaritaville Footwear and a Margaritaville Foods including Chips, Salsa, Guacamole, Shrimp, Chicken and more.
From 8 May 2009 through 5 January 2010 Sun Life Stadium (formerly Dolphin Stadium) in Miami was named Landshark Stadium pursuant to an eight-month naming rights deal.[12][13] Buffett also wrote new lyrics for the team to his 1979 song "Fins", which is played during Dolphins home games.[14]
In May 2011, Buffet announced that he had partnered with game makers THQ to make a Margaritaville game for Facebook and iOS devices. The game opened in closed beta to what's being referred to as the Buffet Beta Club. The game, which requires users to download Unity Engine for use on the Facebook API, is expected to release on Facebook in December 2011 and to iOs devices by the end of January 2012.[15]
Charity work
Buffett has been involved in many charity efforts. In 1981 the Save the Manatee Club was founded by Buffett and former Florida governor Bob Graham.[16] Save the Manatee Club is the world's leading manatee protection organization.[17]West Indian Manatee In 1989, legislation was passed in Florida that introduced the "Save the Manatee" license plate, and earmarked funding for the Save the Manatee Club. One of the two manatees trained to interact with researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory is named Buffett after the singer.
The "Singing for Change" foundation was initially funded by proceeds from Buffett's 1995 concert tour, and provides grants to local charities in three main areas: children and family causes, environmental causes, and causes for disenfranchised groups.[18][19]
On 23 November 2004, Buffett raised substantial money at his "Surviving the Storm" Hurricane Relief Concert in Orlando, Florida to provide relief for hurricane victims in Florida, Alabama and the Caribbean affected by the four major hurricanes that year.[20]
Buffett performed in Hong Kong on 18 January 2008 for a concert that raised US$63,000 for the Foreign Correspondents' Club Charity Fund. This was his first concert in Hong Kong and it sold out within weeks. Not only did Buffett perform for the groundlings for free, but he also paid for the concertgoers' tequila and beer.[21]
On 11 July 2010, Buffett, a Gulf Coast native, put on a free concert on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The concert was Buffett's response to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf. The concert was aired on CMT television. The 35,000 free tickets were given away within minutes to help draw people back to Alabama's beaches. Buffett played several popular songs including "Fins", "Son of a Son of a Sailor", "A Pirate Looks at Forty" and a modified version of "Margaritaville" where the lyrics were changed in the chorus to "now I know, it's all BP's fault." The concert featured Jesse Winchester and Allen Toussaint.
In addition, many Parrothead club activities are focused on charity work, although Buffett is not directly involved with them.
Controversy
The earliest controversy with Buffett was his recording of "God's Own Drunk" found on the live recorded album You Had to Be There. In 1983 the son of the late entertainer Lord Buckley sued Buffett for $11 million for copyright infringement claiming that Buffett took parts of the monologue from Buckley's A Tribute to Buckley and claimed it as his own work in "God's Own Drunk". The suit also alleged that Buffett's "blasphemous" rendition presented to the public a distorted impression of Lord Buckley.[22] They got an injunction against Buffett which prevented him from performing the song until the lawsuit was settled or resolved. So, in 1986 when Buffett would get to the part of his show where he would normally perform "God's Own Drunk," he would say that he still isn't allowed to play it because of the lawsuit and instead played a song he wrote called "The Lawyer and the Asshole" in which he accuses Buckley's son and lawyers as being greedy and tells them to "kiss his ass."
On 6 October 2006, it was reported that Buffett had been detained by French custom officials in Saint Tropez for allegedly carrying over 100 pills of ecstasy.[23][24][25] Buffett’s luggage was searched after his Dassault Falcon 900 private jet landed at Toulon-Hyères International Airport. He paid a fine of $300 and was released. A spokesperson for Buffett stated the pills in question were prescription drugs, but declined to name the drug or the health problem for which he was being treated. Buffett released a statement that the "ecstasy" was in fact, a Vitamin B supplement known as Foltx.[26]
In January 1996 Buffett's Grumman HU-16 airplane nicknamed "Hemisphere Dancer" was shot at by Jamaican police who believed the craft to be smuggling marijuana. The aircraft sustained minimal damage. The plane had been carrying Buffett as well as U2's Bono, and Island Records producer Chris Blackwell, and co-pilot Bill Dindy. They were not on board at the time. The Jamaican government acknowledged the mistake and apologized to Buffett who penned the song "Jamaica Mistaica" for his Banana Wind album based on the experience. The plane from the incident is now at Orlando City Walk's Margaritaville.
On 4 February 2001, he was ejected from the American Airlines Arena in Miami during a Miami Heat/New York Knicks basketball game for cursing. After the game, referee Joe Forte said that he ordered him moved during the fourth quarter because "there was a little boy sitting next to him and a lady sitting by him. He used some words he knows he shouldn't have used." Forte apparently didn't know who Buffett was, and censured Heat coach Pat Riley because he thought Riley – who was trying to explain to him who Buffett was – was insulting him by asking if he'd ever been a "Parrothead", the nickname for Buffett fans.[27] Buffett didn't comment immediately after the incident, but discussed it with Matt Lauer on The Today Show three days later.
Jimmy Buffett was paid $250,000 to perform a private show for ex-Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski. This show was part of a multiple day event held to celebrate Kozlowski's girlfriend and her birthday. Video footage of this performance is included in a CNBC television series known as "American Greed."[28]
Concerts and tours
Setlist structure
Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band have earned a tremendous amount of recognition for their concerts—which mixes theatrical elements with improvisation—bringing a carefree tropical party to life. Most recent shows consist of 24–26 songs and two separate encores.
The first encore usually consists of two songs. After the first song, Buffett introduces the band, and then they segue into the second song. The second encore usually consists of a single acoustic ballad. "A Pirate Looks at Forty" is a typical closer at shows, however, Buffett sometimes takes the opportunity to choose a more obscure song to perform such as:"He Went to Paris", "Nautical Wheelers" or "Tin Cup Chalice", among others.
Jimmy Buffett performs during the Summerzcool Tour in June 2009.
"Fins", mostly performed towards the end of the show in recent years, is always preluded by the Jaws theme as a teaser. Buffett calls out to the Parrotheads, or "land-sharks", to get their "fins up"! The fans raise their hands in the air, in the manner of a dorsal fin, and wave it left and right. "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" usually has a video of local parrotheads in the arena/venue parking lot playing over its performance. "Why Don't We Get Drunk" is sometimes performed in a different style (i.e. Hawaiian style, karaoke style, sing-along style). "One Particular Harbour" is played for women and men wearing hula-skirts. "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is performed with Mac McAnally taking Alan Jackson's place.
The band will also often throw in references to and skits about the actual venue they're playing to please home town fans. As an example, when Buffett and the Coral Reefers performed at Fenway Park, Boston, in September 2004, they added a performance of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" featuring Dr. Charles Steinberg on organ, segued "Why Don't We Get Drunk" into Red Sox favorite "Sweet Caroline", and attempted to reverse the Curse of the Bambino (some even claim they were successful, as the Red Sox won their first World Series in over 86 years a few weeks later). Similarly, when playing the Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2009 (Buffett's first London gig for 29 years), the setlist included Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London", a cover that Buffett recorded on the soundtrack to Hoot. Buffett also performed two Beatles songs that he had been playing throughout the Summerzcool tour: "Yellow Submarine" and "Rocky Raccoon".
"The Big 8" and standard songs
Before 2003, songs played at every Buffett show were known as the Big 8. With the success of the Alan Jackson duet "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere", and the rising popularity of "One Particular Harbour", the list of songs played at every show went from 8 to 10. The "Big 8" were:
Since "Why Don't We Get Drunk" has been knocked off the standards list, there are only nine songs played at almost every show in recent years. However, neither Buffett nor the Coral Reefers have ever used the term "Big 9" for the new line-up.
This list doesn't necessarily mean that those songs have been played at every show. "A Pirate Looks at Forty" was not played during the George, Washington '92 show.[29] "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was excluded from two setlists during the 1998 tour.[30] "One Particular Harbour" was left out of 11 shows during the 1997 tour,[31] not to mention every show during the 1988 & 1989 tour.[32] "Why Don't We Get Drunk" wasn't played at all during the Bama Breeze tour, and has since only returned to be played on an occasional basis. "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" did not appear during the opening shows of the 1998 and 2003 tours.[33] "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" was omitted from first of the two Irvine shows in 2006.[34]
On 26 January 2011 (Australia Day), Buffett was performing a concert in Australia at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion and fell off the stage after an encore. A concert-goer said, "He just went over to the edge of the stage, like he had numerous times through the night, just to wave, and people were throwing stuffed toys and things at him. And he just took one step too many and just disappeared in a flash. He didn't have time to put his arms out to save himself or anything, he just dropped."[35][36][37] Coincidentally, one of Australia's leading trauma surgeons was at the concert and close to the stage; Dr. Gordian Fulde treated Buffett at the scene. Fulde said, "I thought he'd broken his neck." "I heard the clunk of his head on a metal ledge, he has a deep gash on his scalp, which is all right now." "But at first I thought – this guy is going to be a spinal injury."[35] Dr Fulde turned him on his side so he could breathe and administered first aid. Buffett regained consciousness within a few minutes. He was then transported to St Vincent's Hospital Emergency centre for treatment and was released the next day.[38]
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