Jimmy Buffett

Background

James William ‘Jimmy’ Buffett was born on December 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He was raised in Mobile, Alabama. Having spent his childhood on the Alabama coastline, the themes of the sea, beaches, fishing, and yachting all recur prominently in his compositions. He went to Catholic schools and an all-male boarding school because his family wanted him to be a priest or a navy officer. Buffett attended Auburn University in Alabama in 1965.

Buffett knew how to play the trombone, but was never taught to play the guitar. However, when he witnessed a friend charming a lot of girls with his guitar at Auburn, Buffett quickly begged him to teach him how to play. His increased passion for music and women, however, caused him to lose concentration on his academics, and he dropped out of Auburn in the spring of 1966. To dodge the draft, he attended Pearl River College in Poplarville, Mississippi that autumn and began performing music to pay for his education. A little over an hour’s drive from Poplarville was New Orleans, where Buffett performed as a street musician. He immersed himself in the hippy culture of the French Quarter. He and two pals also formed The Upstairs Alliance, which performed on the coast’s club scene. He kept his grades in order in Pearl River before transferring to the University of Mississippi in 1969, where he got a bachelor’s degree in history. He applied for Officer Candidate School, but his medical check revealed a previously undiscovered peptic ulcer.

In 1969, Buffett wedded Margie Washichek. In 1971, the marriage ended. He has two kids with his second wife, Jane Slagsvol: Savannah Jane and Sarah Delaney. Cameron Marley, their adoptive son, was also born. While Buffett and Jane divorced in the late 1980s, they reconnected in 1991 after sorting out their disagreements.