Jimmy Buffett got a mention on Thursday night’s episode of the award-winning NBC comedy “30 Rock.”

During the show, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) appeared on the fictional CNBC program “The Hot Box” with Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks). During a rapid fire question session, Jessup asked Donaghy who is number one on his speed dial. He said “BlackBerry: Warren Buffett. iPhone: Jimmy Buffett.”

You can watch the full episode online at Hulu.com

Jimmy is referenced from time to time on television programs. Last year he was mentioned on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and on The Colbert Report. And in 2008 he was lampooned by South Park.

2009 was another big year for Jimmy Buffett. His summer tour was hugely successful again, he partnered with the Miami Dolphins to rename their home field Landshark Stadium, and a new album dropped in December. And of course there was lots more in between. So here’s our Jimmy Buffett 2009 Year in Review:

January

• In early January Jimmy made a swing through the Caribbean, making stops at his Margaritaville Cafes in Grand Cayman and Cozumel where he, Mac, and Nadirah played surprise shows
• Buffett attends Wounded Warriors Project’s Soldier Ride in Key West
• Spring and summer tour dates began to trickle out in mid-to-late January

February

• On February 2nd Margaritaville.com confirmed all shows for the Summerzcool Tour
• Also on February 2nd, Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber Restaurant opened in Honolulu
• Parrothead license plates become available for South Carolina residents
• On February 12th, Jimmy played a surprise show at the Margaritaville in Key West



• About 2 weeks later, Mailboat Records releases 4 digital downloads from the Key West show
• On Tuesday the 24th, Buffett and the Coral Reefers open the 2009 Summerzcool Tour in Maui
• On the 26th he plays a private show for the opening of Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber

March

• Jimmy performs at Netscape founder Jim Clark’s wedding in the British Virgin Islands



• In late March, we report that Margaritaville Rum is coming soon
• Also at the end of the month, Coral Reefer Mac McAnally releases a new single: “You First”

April

• Buffett sends out an April Fool’s joke on his Twitter account saying that the summer tour has been canceled
• On April 10th, Jimmy called in to Radio Margaritaville to discuss the tour and a new album in the works



• First rumblings surface about Jimmy entering into a partnership with the Miami Dolphins
• Spring tour kicks off in Atlanta on April 16th
• Buffett also plays Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Tampa in April
• A planned Today Show appearance by Jimmy in Key West in May is scrapped so that the NBC staff could stay in NYC to cover the Swine Flu outbreak

May

• It was announced on May 1st that Jimmy had entered into a agreement with the Miami Dolphins to rename their home field “Landshark Stadium”
• “Summerzcool” is released as a digital download



• The Fall tour dates are removed from Margaritaville.com, causing mass speculation and frustrating parrotheads on the West Coast
• On May 8th the Dolphins held a press conference in Miami announcing the stadium’s name change to Landshark Stadium. Jimmy performed at the event
• Tour resumed on May 14th in Phoenix. Jimmy also plays Las Vegas, Concord CA, and Irvina CA in May
• Additional Fall tour dates are announced in London, Paris, Orlando, and Charlottsville, VA. The San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas shows planned for the Fall are officially canceled

June

• Trump Entertainment Resorts terminates the agreement with Coastal Development to buy the Trump Marina and Casino and turn it into a Margaritaville-themed casino
• It’s announced that the first Canadian Margaritaville will open in Edmonton
• “Margaritaville” referenced on The Colbert Report
• On June 13th Jimmy performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee
• i-Encore, a parrothead iPhone app is released in mid-June
• Tour resumes on June 18th in Camden, NJ. Jimmy also plays in Pittsburgh and Boston
• In late June, former Coral Reefer Tim Krekel (pictured right) died after a short battle with cancer

July

• On July 1st, Jimmy Buffett and parrotheads are mentioned on an episode of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
• Jimmy performs in London on July 5th
• On July 9th, Jimmy rode along in the Lance Armstrong’s Team Astana car at the Tour de France
• It was reported that Jimmy Buffett serenaded Walter Cronkite in the weeks before his death
• In late July Coastal Development sues Trump over the Atlantic City casino deal



• On the 29th, Jimmy makes a surprise appearance at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York
• Jimmy performs and is interviewed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 29th

August

• Tour resumes in Cincinnati on the 6th. Jimmy also plays Chicago, Indy, Detroit, Atlantic City, Wantagh NY, and East Troy WI in the month of August

September

• On the 2nd, Politico reports that Jimmy Buffett was at the White House



• Jimmy speaks and performs at a memorial for Walter Cronkite in NYC on the 9th
• In mid-September the Orlando show scheduled for November 14th was removed from Margaritaville.com’s tour dates page with no explanation given
• Jimmy lends his boat to three combat veterans
• Prior to the Dolphins Monday Night Football game on the 21st, Jimmy performs outside of the stadium
• A new line of iced tea by Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is announced
• On September 30th it was announced that Jimmy had joined the effort to restore Miami’s Marine Stadium, the venue for the Live By The Bay show from 1985.

October

• On October 16th the Margaritaville on Grand Cayman was robbed
• Jimmy plays for the National Association of Convenience Stores in Las Vegas



• Jimmy performs at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA on October 24th

November

• We reported on the 3rd that “Margaritaville” had been trademarked for video game use
• On the 7th, Jimmy played a show on St. Barth’s for the 60th anniversary of Le Select
• The CMA Awards were held on the 11th and Coral Reefer Mac McAnally won Musician Of The Year for the second straight year
• Jimmy plays final shows of the Summerzcool Tour in Charlottsville VA, Toronto, Uncasville CT, and New York City
• On the morning of the 23rd, Jimmy appeared on the Today Show to discuss his upcoming album “Buffet Hotel”

December

• Jimmy’s new album “Buffet Hotel” is released. It’s Jimmy’s first studio album since “Take The Weather With You” in 2006
• On the 9th, Jimmy and the Zac Brown Band tape an episode of CMT Crossroads in Nashville
• We reported on the 13th that Buffett had acquired two new airplanes
• On the 17th, we reported that an aviation departure procedure out of Palm Beach International Airport in Florida had been named after Jimmy
• We report on the 18th that a job listing for a General Manager at a Margaritaville location in Nashville had been posted
• On Christmas Day, Jimmy celebrated his 63rd birthday

The Boot has a lengthy article on Wednesday night’s CMT Crossroads taping with Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band: “Zac Brown Band + Jimmy Buffett Chill Out in Nashville”

Before they launched into ‘Where the Boat Leaves From,’ Jimmy said, “I write a few songs about boats and the first time I heard this one, I [thought], ‘That’s a song I wish I’d written’.” After that performance, the Country Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year, Mac MacAnally, joined the musicians onstage. “He’s musician of the year and he’s having trouble plugging in his guitar,” joked Jimmy as Mac took a few moments to get ready to play.

“I have to tell you that the van referred to in this song was used only to go to Jimmy Buffett concerts,” Zac said prior to singing ‘Free,’ a song about traveling across country and living in said van.

After a rousing version of ‘Chicken Fried,’ the singers had to repeat the first two songs, as is common practice with TV tapings. “It wasn’t out fault, honest,” Zac said. “I think they screwed up out in the [sound] truck.” The energetic crowd, on its feet much of the night, wouldn’t have cared if the two bands had to repeat every song several times. They were in the mood to party, whistling and screaming throughout the evening.

“When you do other people’s songs you have to learn them and it’s like doing homework or going to summer school,” Jimmy said as they went into the second half of the taping of his songs. “Now we’re coming to the easy part of the show for me. We’re gonna cover things you know but I’m also going to do some shameless promotion for a new album that will probably be history by the time this show airs.”

Read the full article here.

Wednesday night Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band taped their episode of CMT Crossroads at The Factory in Franklin, TN. Linda Zettler of The Tennessean has an article on the filming:

Jimmy Buffett had this reaction when he saw the Zac Brown Band in concert: ‘e2’80’9cHe reminds me of what I was doing 25 years ago and it’e2’80’99s nice to see that passed on.’e2’80’9d

No one’s sound is completely his own, Buffett said on Wednesday night in Franklin during a taping of CMT’s genre-mixing performance series Crossroads; Buffett’s own work was informed by Harry Belafonte, for one.

So in that spirit, during the taping, Buffett announced the passing of the “tiki torch.”

“Here’s the torch, man,” Buffett said, motioning to Brown and then adding, I’m not going anywhere.”

Songs performed:

• Where the Boat Leaves From
• One Love
• Free
• Into the Mystic
• Toes
• Chicken Fried
• Wings
• Nobody From Nowhere
• Son of a Son of a Sailor
• A Pirate Looks at Forty
• Margaritaville

The episode will air at 9 pm on Friday, March 19th.

The taping for the CMT Crossroads episode pairing Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band is tonight at The Factory in Franklin, TN (just outside of Nashville). The two bands rehearsed on Tuesday night.

The audience is invitation-only, and the episode will air sometime in March.