Jimmy Buffett Details
It takes a special musician to sell not only music, but to sell a lifestyle, and perhaps no one has done so more effectively than Jimmy Buffett. But, believe it or not, it wasn’t always Cheeseburgers in Paradise for Buffett; he first struggled to make it as a singer before he even dreamed of life as an entrepreneur. He first followed the path of so many before and after him, moving to Nashville in the ’60s to try and make it as a country artist. Label troubles caused him to pack up and move to Key West, where he finally began to find the success that had eluded him. 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean showed great promise—”He Went to Paris,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” and “Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit” would all later find homes on greatest hits albums.
It was in the latter half of the decade that Buffett found in-the-moment success, as Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977), Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978) and Volcano (1979) all charted in the top 15 on the Billboard 200. He couldn’t quite replicate their sales numbers with his releases throughout the ’80s, but the popularity of albums like Fruitcakes (1994) and Take the Weather with You (2006) have proven his appeal to be timeless. Not that there was any doubt; legions of Buffett fans known as Parrotheads still follow their laid-back leader for concerts all over the country.