Irish Rovers Folk Music of Ireland
Canada 1963 was the year when two young lads from the North of Ireland met for the first time at an Irish event in Toronto. George Millar who was 16 years old at the time and Jim Ferguson, 23, were both emigrants who sang together when they first met, this was when the Irish Rovers was first born.
A year later Joe Millar, a cousin of George, also immigrated to Canada and joined the two lads in their adventures in performing Irish music. Joe was a talented accordion and harmonica player but was also able to sing traditional Irish ballads and would prove an essential part of the Irish Rovers.
Soon after Will Millar, George’s brother, also joined the Irish rovers after which they set out to conquer America in an adventure that would take them through many years of performing great music and providing brilliant entertainment for those lucky enough to have seen them.
The Irish Rovers First Album
Getting the opportunity to perform in San Francisco’s The Purple Onion would prove worthwhile as each of their gigs was sold out, for a staggering 22 weeks. It was in the States of California their talent was really discovered and landed a recording contract with Decca Records. After three years of establishing the Irish Rovers their first album was released and was humbly named “The First Of The Irish Rovers”. With great success in their first album, they released a second that saw a huge response to their song “The Unicorn” becoming a massive hit.
Lucky for television viewers the Irish Rovers performed shows on a weekly basis in Canada and later to Ireland. Their television broadcasts were aired throughout the 70’s and early 80’s but with an extra member to the group by the name of Wilcil McDowell, who was also from Ireland.
Wasn’t That A Party was released in 1980 which shot them to the top of the charts, the song was written by Tom Paxton in homage to the group and the song became widely known around the globe.
In 1995, Will Millar retired from the group and their close friend, Jimmy Ferguson, passed away in 1997 but today the legend of the Irish Rovers still continues in strength with new members Kevin McKeown and John Reynolds helping to keep the spirit of the Irish Rovers alive.
The Irish rovers performed many gigs throughout the years and had released many albums that are loved by many. Today they still continue to tour the world and are still a huge success just as they were when they had started this musical adventure.
If you haven’t heard the Irish Rovers you are for sure missing out in one of the most famous, talented Irish folk groups.
