On Sunday night, Comedy Central’s “Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education” aired live from the Beacon Theater in New York City with a full slate of celebrities.

Jimmy Buffett and his wife Jane were in attendance (view red carpet photo here), and when host Jon Stewart asked the audience to open their pocketbooks, Jane stood up and pledged $50,000!

The Buffetts were shown on air a couple more times throughout the show.

The program will be available to view online Monday at www.comedycentral.com. On Tuesday, the program will be available for download for $1.99 from iTunes, with all proceeds going directly to the charity.

The “Night of Too Many Stars” benefits a variety of autism education programs around the country. Proceeds also will support outreach programs that provide in-home training and consultation to families of very young children. A portion of the proceeds also will benefit Autism Speaks, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research.

You can still donate to this great cause by clicking here.

(Hat tip to Kevin for passing this along)

The Michigan chapter of the Make-A-Wish foundation held its Pistons Cares Telethon on Friday, March 14th and Jimmy was among several entertainers who supported the cause.

The 17-hour event raised more than $480,000 and gave PS&E an opportunity to grant 60 wishes for Michigan kids with life-threatening medical conditions. A check presentation is planned for halftime of tonight’s Nuggets vs. Pistons game.

Entertainers including Jimmy Buffett, The Marshall Mathers Foundation, Kid Rock, Anita Baker, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, The Police, Santana, concert promoters Live Nation and AEG Live all supported the event.

Read the entire story here.

The three year old Cheeseburger In Paradise restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina has closed, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times:

“The closure is a prudent business decision for us at this time, but we would like to serve our loyal Asheville customers again at some point in the future,” Matt Wissman, joint venture partner of Cheeseburger in Paradise in the North Carolina area, said in a press release. “On behalf of all of us at the restaurant, we want to express our appreciation to the Asheville community for their patronage over the past years.”

Wissman said the company will work with employees “to re-locate them to one of the other company restaurants in the area.” Cheeseburger in Paradise is a subsidiary of OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC, which also owns Outback Steakhouses.

Buffett played a benefit show there on January 11th, 2005 to celebrate the grand opening. The event raised $96,000 for Eblen Charities, whose programs serve thousands of Western North Carolinians.

Cheeseburger in Paradise was founded in August 2002 and is owned by Outback Steakhouse, under a license from Buffett. The “island fantasy” concept features colorful cocktails and live music as well as Key West-style architecture and decor that offer customers an escape from the daily grind.

In 2005, Jimmy Buffett sold his holdings of the chain to Outback Steakhouse, Inc., who previously held a 50% share in the chain. Outback pays a royalty of 4.5 percent of restaurant sales to Buffett.

To find locations and get other information, visit the official homepage of Cheeseburger In Paradise here.

Part II of the Bloomberg interview with Buffett is now available. It includes Buffett singing “Somewhere Over China” and “Chanson Pour Les Petits Enfants” solo with just his guitar. Check it out below:

Watch Part I here.

Stephen Engle of Bloomberg interviewed Jimmy Buffett before his January 18th benefit show in Hong Kong. They discussed how Jimmy got started, how he continues to have success, and even talked about the economy. There is some great video shown during the interview, and Jimmy even breaks out his guitar to sing an acoustic solo version of Margaritaville. Below is Part I of the interview:

Jimmy Buffett Hong Kong concert interview Part 1
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