1. James William Buffett was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman.
93 Facts About Jimmy Buffett
1. 2.
In total, Jimmy Buffett sold over 20 million certified records worldwide, placing him amongst the world's best-selling music artists.
3.
Jimmy Buffett was born on December 25,1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and he spent part of his childhood in Mobile and Fairhope, Alabama.
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Jimmy Buffett was the son of Mary Lorraine and James Delaney Buffett, Jr.
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Jimmy Buffett was educated by Jesuits as a Catholic and served as an altar boy.
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In 1961, after seeing a folk music ensemble perform in Biloxi, Mississippi, Jimmy Buffett realized that he wanted to be a musician.
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Jimmy Buffett's first performance was a month later at a hootenanny, where he played a Stella guitar.
8.
Jimmy Buffett attended St Ignatius School, where he played the trombone in the school band at age 8 in the 1950s.
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Jimmy Buffett enrolled at Auburn University and was taught how to play guitar by a Sigma Pi fraternity brother to "garner attention from girls".
10.
Jimmy Buffett failed out of Auburn after a year, in April 1966, "unable to balance his newfound interests in music and girls with his college classes".
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In 1966, Jimmy Buffett played acid rock in a band called the Upstairs Alliance that attempted to emulate the sound of Jefferson Airplane.
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Jimmy Buffett continued college at Pearl River Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1969, where during his time there he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
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In college, Jimmy Buffett worked in a shipyard as an electrician and welder.
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Jimmy Buffett avoided serving in the Vietnam War due to a college deferment and a failed physical exam.
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Jimmy 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.
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Jimmy Buffett released his first album, the country-tinged folk rock record Down to Earth, in August 1970; it sold 324 copies.
17.
Unhappy with the business climate in Nashville and with his first marriage heading for divorce, Jimmy Buffett took up 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.
18.
In November 1971, they went to Key West on a busking expedition; Jimmy Buffett liked it so much that he moved there in the spring of 1972.
19.
Jimmy Buffett was hired by David Wolkowsky, playing for drinks at the Chart Room Bar in the Pier House Motel.
20.
From a connection he made there, Jimmy Buffett was hired as the first mate on the yacht of industrialist Foster Talge, heir to The Rival Company, which became his day job.
21.
Jimmy Buffett used the money he made from the album to buy his first boat.
22.
In January 1977, Jimmy Buffett released Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, which, in addition to the title track, featured his breakthrough hit song "Margaritaville".
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Jimmy Buffett first traveled to Saint Barthelemy in 1978 and moved there shortly thereafter, where he got the inspiration for songs and characters in his books.
24.
In March 1978, Jimmy Buffett released Son of a Son of a Sailor.
25.
In 1983, Jimmy Buffett filed and won a lawsuit against Chi-Chi's for attempting to trademark "Margaritaville" as a drink special.
26.
In 1994, Jimmy Buffett dueted with Frank Sinatra on a cover of "Mack the Knife" on Sinatra's final studio album, Duets II.
27.
In 1996, Jimmy Buffett penned the song "Jamaica Mistaica" for his Banana Wind album based on a January 1996 incident in which Jimmy Buffett's Grumman HU-16 airplane named Hemisphere Dancer was shot at by Jamaican police, who believed the craft to be smuggling marijuana.
28.
In 2003, Jimmy Buffett partnered in a partial duet with Alan Jackson for the song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", which spent a then record eight weeks atop the Hot Country Songs charts.
29.
In May 2005, Jimmy Buffett signed an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio to broadcast Radio Margaritaville, which, from its founding in 1998, was broadcast only online.
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Also in August 2007, Jimmy Buffett received a star on the Mohegan Sun Walk of Fame.
31.
In 2010, Jimmy Buffett was named the tenth biggest touring artist of the decade, with 4.5 million ticket sales over the previous 10 years.
32.
In 2020, Jimmy Buffett released Songs You Don't Know by Heart, a fan-curated collection of his lesser-known songs rerecorded on his collection of notable guitars.
33.
Jimmy Buffett performed his final full concert at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on May 6,2023.
34.
Jimmy Buffett got the idea for the album title from his grandfather's description of a nap.
35.
Jimmy Buffett was posthumously selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024 in the musical excellence category.
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Jimmy Buffett's music combined country, rock, folk, calypso, and pop music with coastal as well as tropical lyrical themes for a sound sometimes called "gulf and western," "gulf rock," or tropical rock.
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Jimmy Buffett's concerts were known for tailgate parties and alcohol consumption.
38.
Jimmy Buffett wrote three books, all of which placed on The New York Times Best Seller list.
39.
Jimmy Buffett co-wrote two children's books, The Jolly Mon and Trouble Dolls, with his eldest daughter, Savannah Jimmy Buffett.
40.
Jimmy 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 Jimmy Buffett, such as conservation.
41.
Jimmy Buffett made cameo appearances in Repo Man, Hook, Cobb, Hoot, Congo, and From the Earth to the Moon.
42.
Jimmy Buffett made cameo appearances as himself in Rancho Deluxe and in FM.
43.
Jimmy Buffett appeared on the Sesame Street special, Elmopalooza, singing "Caribbean Amphibian" with the popular Muppet, Kermit the Frog.
44.
Jimmy Buffett portrayed helicopter pilot Frank Bama in seven episodes of the 2010 reboot of Hawaii Five-0, in 2011, April 2013, March 2015, January 2017, March 2018, May 2019, and March 2020.
45.
Jimmy Buffett made a cameo in the 2015 film Jurassic World, where he is seen holding two margaritas while the dinosaurs are set loose in the park.
46.
In 2017, Jimmy Buffett was the musical guest on the NCIS: New Orleans episode "Rogue Nation", playing the song "I Will Play for Gumbo" in Dwayne Pride's newly rebuilt bar.
47.
In 2019, Jimmy Buffett had an extended cameo playing himself in the Harmony Korine film The Beach Bum.
48.
Jimmy Buffett portrayed both himself and a con artist by the name of Dickie Delaney, who pretended to be the famous singer in order to pull off schemes and trick unsuspecting marks on Season 12, Episode 11 of Blue Bloods.
49.
In 1994, Jimmy Buffett began developing a musical based on Herman Wouk's 1965 novel, Don't Stop the Carnival.
50.
Jimmy Buffett wrote the music and lyrics and Wouk wrote the book for the show.
51.
Jimmy 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.
52.
Jimmy 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.
53.
In 1992, Jimmy Buffett launched Margaritaville Records, with distribution through MCA Records.
54.
Jimmy Buffett sought and received a concert sponsorship from Corona; the partnership was credited for increasing sales of the brand.
55.
The Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi, licensed the name from Jimmy Buffett; it was in operation from May 2012 to September 2014.
56.
Jimmy Buffett wrote new lyrics for the team to his 1979 song "Fins", which is played during Dolphins home games.
57.
In 2016, Jimmy Buffett partnered with FunPlus to develop a new Margaritaville game.
58.
In September 2018, Jimmy Buffett teamed with Wrigley Company heir William Wrigley Jr.
59.
In 1986, Jimmy 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.
60.
Jimmy Buffett was a major donor to the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory.
61.
In 1987, Jimmy Buffett lobbied for the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
62.
Jimmy Buffett enjoyed playing for US troops; he played at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 2002.
63.
Jimmy 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.
64.
In January 2008, Jimmy Buffett performed a concert in Hong Kong that raised funds for the Foreign Correspondents' Club Charity Fund to support needy children.
65.
Jimmy Buffett changed some of the lyrics of his songs to reference the environmental disaster.
66.
Jimmy Buffett married Margie Washichek in 1969; they divorced in 1972.
67.
Jimmy Buffett met his second wife, Jane, then a student at the University of South Carolina, at the Chart Room bar while she was visiting Key West on spring break; she never returned to the university.
68.
The Eagles, for whom Jimmy Buffett was the opening act in 1975, played at their wedding.
69.
Jimmy Buffett resided in a waterfront estate in Sag Harbor, New York.
70.
In 2010, Jimmy Buffett sold his house in Palm Beach, Florida, to Jon Stryker for $18.5 million; he had bought the house in 1994 for $4.4 million.
71.
In 2013, Jimmy Buffett purchased another house in Palm Beach, with 3,100 square feet, for $1.3 million.
72.
In 2020, Jimmy Buffett sold a 4,783-square-foot house in Palm Beach for $6.9 million; he paid $4.95 million for it in 2011.
73.
Jimmy Buffett owned a home in Saint Barthelemy, where he lived on and off in the early 1980s.
74.
Jimmy Buffett owned an apartment in the Deutsche Bank Center in New York City.
75.
Jimmy Buffett was a devoted New Orleans Saints fan, having attended the team's first game at Tulane Stadium in 1967.
76.
Jimmy Buffett was an avid pilot and owned a Dassault Falcon 900 jet that he often used while on concert tours and during his travels.
77.
The airplane nosed over, and Jimmy Buffett was able to swim to safety, sustaining only minor injuries.
78.
On February 4,2001, Jimmy Buffett was ejected from the American Airlines Arena in Miami during a basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks for cursing.
79.
On October 6,2006, Jimmy Buffett was detained by French customs officials in Saint Tropez for allegedly carrying over 100 pills of ecstasy.
80.
Jimmy Buffett's luggage was searched after his Dassault Falcon 900 private jet landed at Toulon-Hyeres International Airport.
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Jimmy Buffett paid a fine of $300 and was released.
82.
Jimmy Buffett released a statement that the "ecstasy" was in fact a B-vitamin supplement known as Foltx.
83.
Jimmy Buffett regained consciousness within a few minutes, and was then transported to St Vincent's Hospital Emergency Centre for treatment and was discharged the next day.
84.
Jimmy Buffett returned to Australia in 2012 for two shows in Brisbane and Melbourne, and made fun of the incident during those shows.
85.
Jimmy Buffett sang in Florida for the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and again for Bill Clinton in the White House in August 2000.
86.
Jimmy Buffett hosted fundraisers for Democratic politicians, including one for Obama in 2008, several for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
87.
In 2018, Jimmy Buffett hosted a concert to support Gwen Graham, daughter of Bob Graham, in the Democratic primary of the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election.
88.
Jimmy Buffett was raised Catholic, although he did not practice the religion later in life.
89.
In May 2023, Jimmy Buffett was hospitalized to "address some issues that needed immediate attention" and rescheduled tour dates.
90.
Jimmy Buffett died on September 1,2023, at age 76, at his home in Sag Harbor, New York, due to complications from Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer, with which he had been diagnosed four years earlier.
91.
In 2015, Jimmy Buffett spoke at the University of Miami's graduation ceremony and received an honorary doctorate in music.
92.
In 2024, the Florida legislature declared August 30 Jimmy Buffett Day, renamed State Road A1A as the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, and issued a commemorative Florida and Margaritaville-themed license plate, to benefit Buffett's charity SFC Charitable Foundation Inc.
93.
In 2024, Jimmy Buffett was entered into the 39th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.