Jimmy Buffett

A practitioner of a mellow, witty country-rock style he knowingly dubbed "Gulf & Western," Jimmy Buffett created a billion-dollar empire out of his fantasy of a life on the Florida coast. It was an invention he constructed over the course of several ramshackle, amiable albums in the 1970s, records that took him from a Jerry Jeff Walker acolyte to a singer/songwriter with his own distinct traits: he had a warm sunny melodicism, a fondness for breezy Caribbean rhythms and instrumentation, and an easygoing delivery that suited his sentimental streak and sense of humor. All of thi...