Jimmy Buffett’s life evokes images of boozy chill-outs by the beach and a certain carefree calm, but in 1996 the singer’s seaplane came under a hail of gunfire in a dramatic encounter with the Jamaican authorities that inspired a song.
Buffett’s song “Jamaica Mistaica” is a laid-back account of a dramatic near-death experience in which his plane, Hemisphere Dancer, was mistaken by the Jamaican authorities for a drug-smuggling aircraft.
“We flew the plane in, got off, and as the plane took off to go get fuel, we were surrounded by a Jamaican S.W.A.T.
team,” Buffett said in a 1996 Rolling Stone interview.
“I thought it was a joke until I heard the gunfire.”
Persons:
Jimmy Buffett’s, Buffett, Paul David Hewson, Bono, ” Buffett, “
Organizations:
singer’s
Locations:
Jamaica, Negril