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

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and na ...

. He was the only member who did not play an instrument. He sang in a rich baritone voice, in contrast to Will Millar's tenor, and was also the comedian of the group. Ferguson was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

to a Roman Catholic family. He emigrated to Canada as a young man, and met

George Millar George Millar may refer to: * George Millar (writer) (1910–2005), awarded the MC for his escape during World War II which he wrote about in ''Horned Pigeon'' * George Millar (footballer) (1874–?), Scottish footballer * George Millar (singer), s ...

in 1963 at an Irish function in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. They decided to form a folk duo and soon after were joined by Millar's cousin, Joe Millar plus two Torontonians, Vic Marcus and Doug Henderson while adopting the name The Irish Rovers. In 1979, Jimmy told Canadian Music Magazine, "We actually formed the group in Toronto. I sang, George played guitar and at that time Joe was playing a little button key accordion. We were ambitious in those days, we'd played the clubs to death in Toronto and we didn't know what to do next; what direction to take. So we (George, Joe and Jim) decided to visit Will in Calgary, ended up staying there, and the Irish Rovers became four."". Joe moved his family out from Toronto, and the band continued in Calgary. Ferguson's voice is heard in several Irish Rovers recordings, including "

The Orange and the Green "The Orange and the Green" or "The Biggest Mix-Up" is a humorous Irish folk song about a man whose father was a Protestant ("Orange") and whose mother was a Catholic ("Green"). It describes the man's trials as the product of religious intermar ...

" and the 1981 hit "Wasn't That a Party". The heavy-set Ferguson suffered a heart attack in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1992 and continued to have heart problems for the rest of his life. He died while on tour in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

in 1997 at the age of 57.

Personal life

Ferguson married Jan Adams in 1968 and they had a daughter, Erin, in 1970.

References

External links

Irish Rovers history on official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Jimmy Folk musicians from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland emigrants to Canada Musicians from Belfast Male singers from Northern Ireland Ulster Scots people 1940 births 1997 deaths 20th-century male singers from Northern Ireland 20th-century Canadian male singers