Remembering Jimmy Buffett, the Music Legend who Hailed from the Mississippi Gulf Coast

"Sun shines on Biloxi

Air is filled with vapors from the sea

Boy will dig a pool beside the ocean

He sees creatures from his dream underwater

And the sun will set from off towards New Orleans.”

- "Biloxi" by Jimmy Buffett

As the nation and the world mourn the loss of Jimmy Buffett, his passing touched residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast at a different level since he was one of our area’s native sons. Every city across the Coast has different fond memory of Jimmy Buffet, and here at Biloxi Shrimp Co. we thought it only appropriate to post our own tribute.

Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, just 20 miles east of Biloxi down Highway 90. Although Buffett mostly grew up in Mobile, Alabama, he frequently visited relatives who lived across the coast from Pascagoula to New Orleans. He once joked with reporters that U.S. 90 was his connection “to my dysfunctional Creole family.” Buffett returned to Magnolia State in the late 1960s to attend the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in Hattiesburg. There, he crossed paths with fellow musician Greg "Fingers" Taylor, and Buffet’s music career set sail. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi (just an hour's drive north of Biloxi) with a history degree in 1969, he and Taylor founded "The Coral Reefer Band," becoming one of the most successful musical collaborations in American history.

In 1977, Buffett released his best-selling album "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," which featured songs about his upbringing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast - letting us and the world know that despite becoming a Parrothead and frequently sailing the Caribbean, he never lost touch with his roots. The album included tracks such as "The Pascagoula Run," after his hometown, and even one named "Biloxi." Little do people know that Buffett played his first paying music gig at Trader John’s folk club here in Biloxi.

He developed quite a following over the years amassing a huge following of what became known as Parrotheads. Buffet was as successful an entrepreneur and businessman as he was a singer songwriter, with licensing deals for the Margaritaville brand for numerous different products and services, including resorts.

In the song “Biloxi,” Buffett truly captures the heart of our city, with lyrics that describe such memorable imagery as “Stars can see Biloxi, stars can find their faces in the sea” as “the sun will set from off towards New Orleans.”

Fast-forward 30 years later, Buffett secured funding and a gaming license to open the first Margaritaville property in Biloxi. On the night of the casino’s grand opening in May 2012, life came full circle for Buffett as he strode barefoot onto the stage outside to play for the town where his career began.

Buffett never wrote any songs about shrimp, but he did mention them in his iconic lyrics. For example, in his hit song "Margaritaville," he sings, "Smell those shrimp, they're beginning to boil."