Will Millar (singer, banjoist, tin whistler and guitarist). His brother George Millar (guitarist), and Jimmy Ferguson (singer) joined Will for a summer holiday and were invited on to Will’s T.V show and "The Irish Rovers" were born. A cousin- Joe Millar joined them for a while and was replaced in 1967 by accordionist, Wilcil McDowell. Joe Millar returned in 1969, now playing bass guitar. All members were born in Northern Ireland between 1938 and 1947.

Under Will Millar's leadership the Irish Rovers began their career at "The Depression" in Calgary and appeared at other coffeehouses throughout North America (notably "The Purple Onion" in San Francisco, "The Ice House" in Los Angeles and "The Penny Farthing" on Yorkville Ave in Toronto, recording its first LP, The First of the Irish Rovers, Decca DL-74835, at the latter venue). They moved into concert halls and nightclubs on the success in 1968 of their recording of Shel Silverstein's children's song 'The Unicorn'. 'The Unicorn' eventually sold some 8 million copies world-wide and was followed by a lesser hit, 'Whiskey on a Sunday'. The group subsequently toured Australia in 1969 (and again in 1974) and appeared at the Canadian pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan.

The group starred 1971-5 on CBC Vancouver TV's 'The Irish Rovers,' one of the most popular variety shows of its day, and thereafter appeared in many CBC specials. Though it did not have as consistently high a profile in later years, it performed for audiences in many parts of the world and in 1979 received the PRO Canada's Wm Harold Moon Award for international achievement. It had its second substantial hit, 'Wasn't That a Party,' in 1980 and was seen in the CBC TV mini-series, 'The Irish Rovers' Comedy House,' in 1981. The group was known as just 'the Rovers' in this period.

Over the years the Irish Rovers have balanced their repertoire of traditional and novelty material with contemporary songs by Will Millar, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and others. In 1966 Peter Goddard suggested that they 'whistle, hoot and sing their way through songs with the subtlety of a shillelagh' (Globe and Mail, 16 December) The album Hardstuff (Attic ACD-1253), issued in 1989, continued to reflect their versatility, with titles by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, Randy Bachman, and Tom Northcott, on one hand, and several tunes featuring Ireland's Fury Brothers as guest performers, on the other.

Update: 2006: The original Irish Rovers lasted for over 30 years until Will Millar parted company with the band to pursue other musical and creative interests. (See the www.willmillar.ca site for his adventures today.)

John Ellis and Will Millar pictured on right, have been recording now for over ten years. Their first recording together in 1991 “The Lark In The Clear Aire” received much recognition and inspired them on to record at least ten more albums together. Take some time to listen to some of these recordings found here on this website.

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