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 Jimmy Buffett performs at his sister's restaurant in Gulf Shores, AL on June 30, 2010. Buffet postponed his free concert on the beach Thursday night because of the possibility of bad weather spawned by Hurricane Alex. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett has translated his easy-going Gulf Coast persona into more than just a successful recording career -- he has expanded into clothing, nightclubs, and literature. But the basis of the business empire that keeps him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers is his music.
Buffett moved to Nashville to try to make it in country music in the late '60s. Signed to Barnaby, he released one album, Down to Earth (1970), the single from which, a socially conscious song called, "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, he moved to Key West, FL, where he gradually evolved the beach bum character and tropical folk-rock style that would endear him to millions
 Jimmy Buffett has certainly built himself an empire of music, books, videos, nightclubs and clothing lines, but it is his yearly concert tour that consistently lands Buffett on the Fortune magazine's list of highest earning entertainers.
There is no question that Jimmy's childhood was influenced by ships and the lure of the ocean. In addition to his father's sea related occupation, Jimmy's grandfather, James Buffett Sr., captained his own ship, the Chicamauga, throughout the oceans of the World. The stories told by grandfather to grandson certainly inspired the songwriter, and these stories are easily recognized as themes and values throughout many of Jimmy's musical works.
Jimmy attended several schools of higher education but graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969 with a degree in history and journalism. It was in college, however, where Jimmy was inspired to learn to play the guitar. After seeing how his roommate was able to attract flocks of women with his guitar playing and singing, Jimmy knew that the guitar was the instrument for him.
Eventually Jimmy moved to Nashville where he inspired to become a country music singer. Buffett signed with Barnaby Records and while signed to Barnaby Records he recorded two albums: Down to Earth and High Cumberland Jubilee (it's interesting how Buffett's recordings of High Cumberland Jubilee were originally reported as lost by Barnaby Records, and they only resurfaced after Buffett became successful. Imagine that).
Jimmy Buffett's stay in Nashville was short-lived and he eventually journeyed to Key West, Florida, where his music continued to evolve. The rest, obviously, is history.
 2nd Bio:
Tropical cult singer Jimmy Buffett was born on Christmas Day, 1946 in Pascagoula, Miss. He grew up in Mobile, Ala., where he attended a Catholic high school. A distant cousin of billionaire Warren Buffett, Jimmy went on to major in history at the University of Southern Mississippi, where, not surprisingly, he was a popular fraternity member.
Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett is known for humorous chronicles of a laid-back seafaring life; his philosophical outlook is encapsulated in tunes like "Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw)" and "My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink and I Don’t Love Jesus." He has since built a small Key West-based financial empire, written several best-selling books, and become a leading environmentalist.
 Raised in the Deep South, Buffett attended Auburn University and then the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in journalism (he later worked as a Billboard reporter). He moved to Nashville in the late Sixties, intent on becoming a country singer. His first album, 1970’s Down to Earth, sold 324 copies. Barnaby Records then temporarily misplaced the master tape of his second album before its release. By 1972 Buffett had left both Nashville and a failed marriage, moving to Key West. There he helped to support himself by smuggling a little marijuana from the Caribbean. He signed to ABC-Dunhill, and his 1973 release, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, found Buffett developing his drunken-sailor persona. Buffett’s commercial breakthrough came in 1977 with the platinum Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (#12) and its hit single, "Margaritaville" (#8).
During that period Buffett toured infrequently, spending most of his time living on his 50-foot ketch Euphoria II. He frequently docked at Montserrat, where his 1979 LP Volcano was recorded. He formed the first version of his Coral Reefer Band in 1975. Buffett scored and acted in the 1974 film Rancho Deluxe, and appeared in the 1977 movie FM His 1981 Coconut Telegraph album inspired a fan-club newsletter of the same name, which has maintained a worldwide subscriber base of "Parrot Heads."
The 1985 compilation Songs You Know By Heart (subtitled Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit[s] in self-mocking reference to the fact that "Margaritaville" was his only major pop hit) sold two million copies; 1992’s Boats Beaches Bars & Ballads also went platinum. By that time Buffett had established a Margaritaville empire, including a record label and Margaritaville Store and Cafe outlets in Key West and New Orleans. He also wrote two best-selling books, Tales from Margaritaville, a collection of short stories, and the novel Where Is Joe Merchant?, as well as two children’s books, The Jolly Man and Trouble Dolls, both co-authored with his daughter, Savannah Jane. He continues performing to sell-out crowds and crusades on behalf of Florida’s endangered manatees. In 1993 Forbes magazine listed Buffett as the 40th richest entertainer in the world, with an estimated 1992-93 income of $20 million.
Jimmy Buffett scored his second consecutive #1 debut album on the Billboard Country Chart with the release of his current studio record, Take The Weather With You. Selling over 120,000 copies in its first week, it also debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. It was certified Gold after less than three months.
Photo Credit, bottom: AP Photo / Mobile Press-Register, Gulf Coast beach concert, Gulf Shores, Ala., July 11, 2010
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