Saturday, September 01, 2007
TheStar.com - entertainment - The complicated uncomplicated life of Jimmy Buffett
TheStar.com - entertainment - The complicated uncomplicated life of Jimmy Buffett: "The complicated uncomplicated life of Jimmy Buffett"
ep 01, 2007 04:30 AM
Sometimes Jimmy Buffett's world gets a little too complicated.
After a lifetime spent in the pursuit of uncluttered self-contentment – "some music, a couple of hours in the water, a nap in the afternoon is all I really need," the American folk-pop icon said during a recent interview – he seems to have achieved exactly the opposite.
He's the head of a massive and complex empire that embraces recording, distribution, music publishing, merchandising and concert interests; the creation of several bestselling novels and an autobiography; Internet radio; movie and stage musical productions; two restaurant chains; a brewery, and a casino resort that will open in Biloxi, Miss. in 2010, not far from his birthplace in Pascagoula.
The 61-year-old accidental mogul, who also flies and collects antique planes and regularly sails his own yacht to distant and exotic destinations, says he has "about 4,000 or 5,000" people working for him and a handful of executives who take care of the various day-to-day operations of his multi-faceted business.
But though he likes to think he has his hand on the wheel, that's not always the case. A few months ago the much-mythologized, free-spirited macho icon worshipped by hundreds of thousands of self-proclaimed Parrotheads approved a general U.S.-food industry-inspired ban on Canadian seafood in his restaurants and immediately found himself at odds with his legions of Canadian fans, as well as relatives in Newfoundland.
Labels: Music, parrot head, parrothead, Philly Parrotheads
