Nearly two years in the making, a permanent exhibit celebrating the life and music of Mobile-born singer Jimmy Buffett is set to open next month at the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf, according to a news release from Visit Mobile.
The “Jimmy Buffett: Son of a Son of a Sailor Experience” will open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 12, filling a permanent 6,000-square-foot gallery with more than 130 items connected to Buffett’s life and career. Buffett, who helped popularize the “trop rock” genre and built an entertainment and hospitality empire around his music, died in September 2023 at age 76 after a battle with a rare form of skin cancer.
Among the artifacts going on display is the 12-string Martin guitar Buffett used to write his signature song, “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” along with handwritten lyrics, a recreation of his Key West recording studio, and recorded interviews with his family and friends.
Museum Executive Director Karen Poth said the exhibit represents nearly two years of work by the museum’s staff.
“Creating the ‘Jimmy Buffett Experience’ has been an absolute honor for our entire team,” Poth said in a statement. “We have spent nearly two years listening, researching, collecting stories, curating artifacts and working to capture the remarkable life of a man who meant so much to so many people.”
Poth added that the museum intends to keep expanding the collection over time. “We didn’t get far into this project before we realized this exhibition will never be a finished story,” she said. “It is a living exhibit and it will continue to change and grow as new stories are shared, new artifacts come to light and we learn more about Jimmy and the world he created.”
According to the museum’s website, the opening weekend will include several days of celebration. Buffett collaborator Mac McAnally is scheduled to perform a concert at the Saenger Theatre on Friday, Sept. 11, the night before the exhibit opens. On Saturday, a ceremony will unveil a statue of Buffett near the museum. Festivities are set to continue Sunday, Sept. 13, with food trucks and live music.
The museum’s Buffett exhibit has already drawn attention from Mobile city leaders; the City Council recently considered a nearly $28,000 purchase of window wraps for the museum ahead of the September opening.
Update: The Mobile City Council has since approved a $32,623 purchase for a pedestal that will support the exhibit’s Buffett statue, one of the final pieces to fall into place ahead of next month’s opening. “Almost two years in the making, and we’re getting there,” Poth said. Tickets for the exhibit are already on sale, with timed entry slots included in the museum’s $19 admission price.
Poth said roughly half of the exhibit will function as a concert experience, taking visitors from backstage into a recreated show featuring never-before-seen footage compiled with Buffett’s longtime videographer, along with road cases, stage props and memorabilia collected from his tours. Additional rooms will display gold records and several more of Buffett’s guitars. A section dedicated to Buffett’s devoted fanbase, the Parrotheads, will include a small room designed to resemble the back door of his Key West home, along with an interactive kiosk where visitors can record their own Jimmy Buffett memories. The exhibit also highlights Buffett’s maritime roots — both of his parents worked for the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Co., and his grandfather was a boat captain.
“Social media is already filled with folks who are planning their trips and figuring out how to come here,” Poth said. “We honestly think we finally have something that will keep people from just getting on the bridge or in the tunnel and headed to the beach. I think they’re gonna stop in Mobile for a while.” The Buffett exhibit will eventually be joined by another new addition, “Delta Mosaic: A Confluence of Life,” an immersive walkthrough exhibit focused on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.