I can tell you from sad personal experience that skin cancer is a very serious illness. I didn't think anything of being out in the sun as a lifeguard at a pool every summer when I was in my teens and early twenties. I count myself quite fortunate to be alive after my bout with skin cancer and I tell any young person who will listen to me to be more careful in the sun because it can definitely come back to bite you as you age.
Jimmy Buffett strikes me as the kind of guy who liked to be out in the sun all of the time.