Index to artist biography of william buffett

Before Jimmy Buffett appeared on Billboard’s charts, he was writing about other artists who did.  

Buffett, who died Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76, worked as a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969 to 1970. He quit when his first album, Debut to Earth, was released because he was told that continuing would be a conflict of interest. 

Among the concerts he reviewed was Isaac Hayes at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, writing, “The Hot Buttered Soul Man combined his songs and his keyboard work on both organ and piano with a full and powerful voice range that created a style [that] was truly his own.”

In 2021, Buffett revisited his time as a reporter, telling Billboard during an interview that as a burgeoning artist, he couldn’t bring himself to write anything negative about a fellow performer. 

“I can never give anybody a bad review because I knew how hard it was to get up there,” he said. “Now, there has to be something toxic that [a review] says, but I can never do it because I knew how hard it was. I know performer

•