ABSTRACT
Hero to “Parrot Heads” everywhere, Buffett has parlayed the success of one song-“(Wasting Away Again in) Margarittaville”—into a career spanning concerts, recordings, leisure wear, and even novels. Buffet was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where he began to play the guitar. After attending college, he went to Nashville in the late 1960s, hoping to make it as a country songwriter. He was signed to the small Barnaby label, which issued one album that was said to initially sell only 324 copies. By 1972, a discouraged Buffett relocated to Key West, Florida, where a year later he signed to ABC/Dunhill. On a series of albums, he developed a laidback, beachbum/hippie persona, culminating in his one major hit, the number eight “ Maragaritaville” (ABC 12254), in 1977. A year later, he scored a minor hit with the humorous “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (1978; #32,ABC 12358). He continued to produce strong-selling albums through the mid1980s, by which time his Maragaritaville label and chain of boutiques were pumping out the cash. His debut collection of short stories played on this success, aptly titled Tales from Margaritaville (1990); novels and memoirs followed through the 1990s. By 1993, Forbes estimated that Buffett’s annual income was in the $20 million range, despite the lack of any top-selling hits, earning him a spot on their Top 40 list of the richest entertainers. He has continued to record and tour through the early 21 stcentury.
