GULF SHORES, Ala. — As tar balls lap up on shore from the BP oil spill, Jimmy Buffett, 63, is going to headline “Live from the Gulf Coast,” a benefit concert (though the tickets are free) being televised nationally on CMT at 7 o’clock Sunday evening. He will play at a specially made 35,000-person outdoor setting only 100 feet from the ocean’s edge in Gulf Shores, about 45 miles southeast of Mobile.

“There are always welcome breaks in every storm, but the unfortunate reality is that this disaster is not going away for a while,” Buffett said in a statement. “But a few hours of fun, void of the constant reminders of the situation, is a good thing, and that is basically what I do.”

— New York Times News Service