James Francis "Jimmy" Ferguson (February 26, 1940 – October 8, 1997) was a founding member of the Irish-Canadian folk group The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn",...

. He was the only member who did not play an instrument.

Ferguson was born in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 to a Protestant family. He emigrated to Canada as a young man, and met George Millar

George Millar (singer)

George Millar, is a singer/songwriter and guitarist with the Irish-Canadian music group The Irish Rovers.George was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ca. 1947, the brother of Will Millar and Sandra Beech. As children, they performed as "The Millar Kids" in Ireland, before the family emigrated to...

 in 1963 at an Irish function in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. They decided to form a folk duo and the following year were joined by Millar's cousin, Joe Millar. After touring the province of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, they recruited Millar's brother, Will

Will Millar

Will Millar is an Irish-Canadian singer best known as a co-founding member of The Irish Rovers. Until his departure in 1995, he was the group's front man. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and tin whistle....

, in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, and adopted the name The Irish Rovers. Wilcil McDowell was also soon added to complete the band

Ferguson's voice is heard in several Irish Rovers recordings, including "The Orange and the Green

The Orange And The Green

"The Orange And The Green" is an Irish folk song about a man whose father was a Protestant and his mother was a Catholic . It follows the man's trials as the product of religious intermarriage and how mixed up he turned out to be from such an upbringing.This song was written by Anthony Murphy of...

" and the 1981 hit "Wasn't That a Party". Ferguson suffered a heart attack in New Zealand in 1992 and continued to have heart problems for the rest of his life. He died while on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

in 1997 at the age of 57.

External links

• Irish Rovers history on official web site