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JIMMY Buffett’s life was marked by extreme highs, scary lows and near-miss tragedies.
The singer, who championed living in paradise, died Friday night from skin cancer.
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Jimmy was born on Christmas Day in 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The talented personality had a hugely successful career for over 50 years.
He was a singer/songwriter, musician, best-selling author and businessman.
But his life was also full of secret heartaches.
In 1969, Jimmy married his first wife, former Alabama beauty queen Margie Washichek. But the two were divorced just two years later.
He married his second wife, Jane Slagsvol, in 1977. And though the two separated in the early 1980’s, they got back together for good in 1991.
Jimmy and Jane had two daughters, radio personality Savannah Jane and filmmaker Sarah Delaney.
They also adopted a son, Cameron Marley.
PLANE CRASH
An avid pilot, Jimmy owned a 1955 Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boat he nicknamed Hemisphere Dancer.
In 1994, Jimmy crashed the plane while attempting to takeoff in the waters off Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The airplane nosed over, but luckily Jimmy was able to swim to safety, sustaining only minor injuries.
Jimmy said previous Navy Survival Training helped him survive.
Read Related Also: Who is Jimmy Buffett’s ex-wife, Margie Washichek?
DRUG RUNNING
The plane would later lead to one of the scariest adventures of his life, when he was almost killed by police in Jamaica.
While in the Caribbean in January 1996, Jimmy, along with his passenger Bono (yes, that Bono) came under fire after cops on the island thought they were smuggling drugs.
The U2 lead singer described the incident in a Belfast Telegraph article:
“These boys were shooting all over the place,” he said. “I felt as if we were in the middle of a James Bond movie — only this was real. It was absolutely terrifying and I honestly thought we were all going to die.
“Thank God we were safe and sound. My only concern was for their safety. It was very scary, let me tell you. You can’t believe the relief I felt when I saw the kids were okay.”
The plane suffered only a few bullet holes.
Hemisphere Dancer was soon retired, and it is now an outdoor bar and seating area at Jimmy’s Margaritaville restaurant and club at Universal Studios Orlando.
The entire incident became the inspiration for the song Jamaica Mistaica, which appeared on the 1996 album Banana Wind.
NEAR-DEATH
On January 26, 2011 Jimmy fell off the stage while performing a concert in Australia.
The Son of a Son of a Sailor singer blacked out, and was treated at the scene.
A doctor who responded noted: “I thought he’d broken his neck…. I heard the clunk of his head on a metal ledge, he has a deep gash on his scalp, which is all right now…. But at first I thought: this guy is going to be a spinal injury.”
Jimmy returned to Australia in 2012 for two shows, and in true Buffett style, made several jokes about the near-fatal accident.
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