But the basis of the business empire that keeps him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers is his music.

Buffett moved to Nashville to try to make it in country music in the late '60s. Signed to Barnaby, he released one album, Down to Earth (1970), the single from which, a socially conscious song called, "The Christian?," suggested he might be more at home protesting in Greenwich Village. (Barnaby "lost" his second album, High Cumberland Jubilee, though they would find it and release it after he became successful.) Instead, he moved to Key West, FL, where he gradually evolved the beach bum character and tropical folk-rock style that would endear him to millions

Jimmy Buffett has certainly built himself an empire of music, books, videos, nightclubs and clothing lines, but it is his yearly concert tour that consistently lands Buffett on the Fortune magazine's list of highest earning entertainers. There is no question that Jimmy's childhood was influenced by ships and the lure of the ocean. In addition to his father's sea related occupation, Jimmy's grandfather, James Buffett Sr., captained his own ship, the Chicamauga, throughout the oceans of the World. The stories told by grandfather to grandson certainly inspired the songwriter, and these stories are easily recognized as themes and values throughout many of Jimmy's musical works.

Jimmy attended several schools of higher education but graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969 with a degree in history and journalism. It was in college, however, where Jimmy was inspired to learn to play the guitar. After seeing how his roommate was able to attract flocks of women with his guitar playing and singing, Jimmy knew that the guitar was the instrument for him.

Eventually Jimmy moved to Nashville where he inspired to become a country music singer. Buffett signed with Barnaby Records and while signed to Barnaby Records he recorded two albums: Down to Earth and High Cumberland Jubilee (it's interesting how Buffett's recordings of High Cumberland Jubilee were originally reported as lost by Barnaby Records, and they only resurfaced after Buffett became successful. Imagine that).

Jimmy Buffett's stay in Nashville was short-lived and he eventually journeyed to Key West, Florida, where his music continued to evolve. The rest, obviously, is history.