The January 18th benefit concert in Hong Kong was a huge success, raising more than $420,000 for Hong Kong’s neediest children. The interest from Parrotheads in Asia was so great, that event organizers are apologizing that so many devoted fans couldn’t get tickets to the show:

As messages begging for tickets were left on Tom Crampton’s blog and strangers started tracking down Dave Garcia’s personal phone number, we understood our major miscalculation Jimmy Buffett’s appeal to devotees in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, the Philippines and beyond.

Truth is, we had no idea how big Jimmy’s first-ever appearance in Hong Kong would become. The concert outstripped all expectations, drawing fans from around Asia and we now realize that we could easily have sold 3,000 tickets instead of 650.

The article on Crampton’s blog goes on to explain Buffett’s generosity:

Buffett himself was confident of success from beginning. So confident, in fact, that he not only flew out with his band and gave the concert for free, but he also paid for the beer and tequila and donated the proceeds from the sales to the charity.

While visiting the orphanage during his visit, Jimmy led the kids in singing the Hokey Pokey and had such fun we actually had trouble getting him out.

At the concert, he played for more than two hours and added the song “Somewhere Over China” to the playlist for the first time in 14 years.

The good news for Buffett fans: Jimmy loved the fans, Hong Kong and the charity so much, he plans to return next year.

Read the entire blog post here. Also, read Fortune Magazine editor Clay Chandler’s article on the benefit: “Buffett (Jimmy, Not Warren) Rescues China.”

Jimmy Buffett performed a USO concert this week for our troops aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during a recent port visit in the Middle East. Navy.mil has some photos of the event:

The new design for Florida’s Save the Manatees license plates was unveiled today and residents will soon be able to purchase one.

Save the Manatee Club was established in 1981 by Jimmy Buffett and former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. The Gainesville Sun has the story:

The new plate design was done by Nancy Blauers, a Margaritaville Merchandising Senior Artist who designs “Margaritaville lifestyle” products for Margaritaville stores.

The redesigned plates are available from your local tax collector or at www.buyaplate.com. Last minute gift shoppers may be interested in knowing they can buy a manatee plate gift certificates at any authorized tax collector’s office in Florida.

According to ThomasCrampton.com, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will play a benefit show in Hong Kong on Friday, January 18th.

From the blog:

Thanks to a chance encounter with Jimmy Buffett in the Paris newsroom of the International Herald Tribune last May, I convinced him to come out to Hong Kong on January 18 to give a charity concert for the FCC Charity Fund.

Jimmy has generously agreed to donate his time and been extremely involved in the event. Held in the Hong Kong Football Club, it is sure to be a great event, so spread the word book your tickets soon!

For more information, visit this site.

Jimmy Buffett spent some time this past weekend volunteering in Montauk with Surfers Healing, a organization created specifically to take autistic children out of their mysterious shells, and to turn a beach here, a beach there, into a sanctuary of shared understanding for moms and dads who most days struggle alone to cope with their challenged children in the “normal” world.

“It’s the motion of the ocean,” was how the singer Jimmy Buffett put it. Mr. Buffett, a surfer himself, showed up to volunteer on Saturday afternoon. Later that evening, he performed for parents and volunteers at the Sunset Saloon on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk.

Read the entire article here.