Concert: Jimmy Buffett

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Jimmy Buffett is a singer and songwriter, best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville", and "Come Monday." He was born as James William Buffett on December 25, 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi but was raised in Mobile, Alabama. He has a rabid, but genial, fan-base known as "Parrotheads." They call the youngest members "Parakeets."

Buffett studied journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi, there he became a popular fraternity member while honing his musical skills. After college, Buffett moved to Nashville in 1970, he worked for Billboard magazine where he built the contacts that led to his 1970 debut for Barnaby Records called ?Down to Earth.? It came and went almost entirely unnoticed. He struggled in Nashville for several more years before moving to Key West and began establishing the easy-going beach bum persona for which he is known.

Signing to ABC-Dunhill Records (later absorbed by MCA), Buffett achieved notoriety but not much else with his second album, "White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean" in 1973, which featured a song called, "Why Don't We Get Drunk." Buffett revealed a more thoughtful side on "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time" that was released in 1974. With his song on marital separation "Come Monday," he got his first singles chart entry. But it took the Top Ten song "Margaritaville" and the album in which it was featured, "Changes in Latitudes," released in 1977 to capture Buffett's tropical world view and, for a while, turn him into a pop star.

During the 1980s Buffett made far more money off 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, a hits compilation sold millions, a 1990 live album, "Feeding Frenzy," went gold, and a 1992 boxed set retrospective, "Boats Beaches Bars & Ballads," became one of the best-selling boxed 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 in 1996 by Banana Wind. His album "Christmas Island" followed and in 1998 he released, "Don't Stop The Carnival."

In 2003, he partnered in a partial duet with Alan Jackson for the country hit "It's Five O'clock Somewhere," a number one hit on the country charts. Buffett's recent album, "License to Chill," released on July 13, 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.

He later branched out into clothing, nightclubs, and literature. He has three number one best sellers on the New York Times Best Seller List. Buffett co-owns the "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger In Paradise" restaurants. He makes an estimated 30-40 million dollars a year between his restaurants, album sales, and tours. His earnings and business empire keep him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers in music.

At the 2003 CMA Awards in Nashville, Buffett and Jackson opened the show with "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." After winning the vocal event award later that night, Buffett noted, "It was about 31 years ago that I came to this town to pursue my musical madness, and I've never won anything for anything, and it's great to do it here."

If you are not a Parrothead yet, here is your chance to be one. Come and watch Jimmy Buffett LIVE, contact your on line ticket vendor.

Discography:

Live at Fenway Park - 2005 License to Chill ? 2004 It's Five O'clock Somewhere ? 2003 Don't Stop the Carnival - 1998 Living and Dying in 3/4 Time - 1974 White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean ? 1973 Down to Earth ? 1970