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 formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...

. 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 ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

to a Roman Catholic family. He emigrated to Canada as a young man, and met George Millar in 1963 at an Irish function in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

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 Emigrants from Northern Ireland 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