Forbes is out with their annual list of the highest paid musicians and Jimmy Buffett came in at #28 with $36 million earned.

Among the best in the business at extending his brand, Buffett boasts a Margaritaville empire with more than two-dozen locations. His earnings from non-musical business ventures easily outstrips income from both his songs and live shows, putting him in an elite group alongside the likes of Diddy and Dr. Dre.

Number one on this year’s list? Katy Perry with an astonishing $135 million, followed by One Direction at $130 million and Garth Brooks at $90 million.

Jimmy Buffett and his wife Jane hosted a special sneak screening of the new Bill Murray film “Rock the Kasbah” in the Hamptons over the weekend. Many celebrities were in attendance, including Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen.

Open Road Films’s new comedy “Rock the Kasbah,” starring Bill Murray, Kate Hudson and Bruce Willis, debuted at the United Artist Theater in East Hampton, N.Y. on Friday night for a special sneak preview. The screening — presented by the Peggy Siegel Company and hosted by famed singer Jimmy Buffett and his wife Jane — was a crowd pleaser. Guests raved about Murray’s funny yet heartfelt performance as a washed up rock manager.

But it was the post-screening after party at the Blue Parrot Bar & Grill that drew the most buzz. A star-studded guest list that included Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and President Bill Clinton joined the film’s cast to celebrate the pic and enjoy a casual nightcap. All eyes were on Clinton. The 42nd president of the United States received the most attention and selfie requests from the partygoers. Even the musicians and actors seemed to be starstruck.

“It’s very exciting that the President is here,” Murray told Variety at the party. “It’s an honor to meet him and get to talk to him.”

Read more here.

Native Mississippian Jimmy Buffett is one of many notable sons and daughters of the state to sign a letter that appeared in Sunday’s Clarion Ledger calling for the removal of the Confederate emblem from the state flag.

In a letter appearing in a full-page ad in today’s Clarion-Ledger, author John Grisham, actor Morgan Freeman, legendary quarterback Archie Manning, “The Help” author Kathryn Stockett and others are calling for removal of the Confederate emblem from Mississippi’s state flag.

With other states removing their Confederate battle flags, Mississippi remains the last with the Confederate emblem flying over the statehouse.

“It is simply not fair, or honorable, to ask black Mississippians to attend schools, compete in athletic events, work in the public sector, serve in the National Guard, and go about their normal lives with a state flag that glorifies a war fought to keep their ancestors enslaved,” the letter says. “It’s time for Mississippi to fly a flag for all its people.”

Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale and Mississippi business leader Jack Reed Sr. signed the letter. So did music legend Jimmy Buffett, former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, Grammy-winning producer Glen Ballard, Basketball Hall of Famer Bailey Howell, former Gov. William Winter, baseball legend Boo Ferriss and a host of others.

The letter is the latest in a growing wave, from House Speaker Philip Gunn to Mississippi’s SEC football coaches to the great-great-grandson of Confederate President Jefferson Davis — all saying the Confederate battle flag belongs in a museum.

“The tide is turning with business leadership saying it hurts our ability to recruit corporations and with coaches saying it hurts our ability to recruit athletes,” said state Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson. “The flag is a turnoff.”

Read more at clarionledger.com.

After making a surprise appearance at Tipitina’s in New Orleans on Saturday, and taking in the Saints game on Sunday, Jimmy Buffett headed to his birthplace on Monday: Pascagoula, Mississippi.

From GulfLive.com:

The Pascagoula native was in New Orleans over the weekend, and rented a car with longtime friend Franz Hanning and drove from the Big Easy down highway 90 and into Jackson County and had lunch at Scranton’s in Pascagoula. Hanning is also a Pascaoula native and is the brother-in-law of Scranton’s co-owner Jack Pickett.

“I got a call about 10 Sunday night that they might be coming,” Richard Chenoweth, also a Scranton’s co-owner, said. “They were supposed to be there at 11, and I didn’t tell anyone but my daughter Amy (the manager of Scranton’s) and I didn’t tell her until right around 11. They walked in about 10 minutes later.”

“He’s a great guy, really laid back,” Chenoweth added. “We just talked about the Saints, and fishing and food and family. I think everyone really enjoyed it. It was real casual. They just wanted to stop in their hometown and have a bite to eat.”

Chenoweth said the group dined on Bang-Bang Shrimp and chicken gumbo among other fare, and Buffett had a turkey burger.

“We had a pretty good lunch crowd that early, and no one really realized it was him,” Chenoweth concluded. “It turned out real well.”

Read the full story at GulfLive.com.

Jimmy Buffett is taking Margaritaville to the high seas. At the Norwegian Cruise Line’s annual company meeting on Thursday, Jimmy made a surprise appearance as the CEO announced the deal.

Margaritaville will be a complimentary restaurant on the Norwegian Escape, which will debut in Europe next October and begin week-long Caribbean cruises out of Miami starting Nov. 14. The 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar will be an outdoor bar on the ship’s Waterfront zone and will feature live music nightly.

Margaritaville eventually will be expanded to the rest of the fleet, but details haven’t been set yet, said Vanessa Lane Picariello, Norwegian’s director of public relations.

“I always wanted a navy,” Buffett said. “If you see me out on my little 26-foot sailboat, please do not run over me.”

The Miami Herald also revealed that a Margaritaville will open at the cruise line’s port in Belize while a 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar will be built in The Bahamas.

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