Jimmy Buffett

Father worked as a naval architect in the Gulf of Mexico region and himself was the son of a sailor. Was assistant Southern editor of Billboard magazine. Founded Save the Manatee Club in 1981 and Singing for Change charitable foundation in 1995. Has been a member of the Greenpeace Foundation (honorary director) and the Cousteau Society. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is a distant cousin. Collaborated in 1995 with Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk, known for epic novels like The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War, to create a musical adaptation of Don't Stop the Carnival. In 1996, Jamaican police mistook Buffett's sea plane for that of a drug smuggler and shot at the craft, which also carried U2's Bono. Served as a correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine in 1998, covering Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba. That same year, his autobiography, A Pirate Looks at 50, made him one of a handful of authors to reach the top of the New York Times' best-selling books list for both fiction and non-fiction; he joined the likes of Hemingway and Steinbeck. Was involved in a temporary naming-rights deal for the former Dolphins Stadium in Miami in 2009. In 2010, performed a free concert---which also featured such acts as Jesse Winchester and Kenny Chesney---in response to an oil disaster that devastated the Gulf Coast. In 2011, was hospitalized with a head injury after falling from a stage while performing in Australia. ~ Rovi