John McDermott (singer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Charles McDermott is a Canadian tenor best known for his rendition of Danny Boy. Born in Glasgow, Scotland on March 25, 1955, John and his family moved to Willowdale, Ontario, Canada in 1965. Growing up in a musical family, his only formal musical training was at St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto, Ontario in 1971 and 1972.
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[edit] Starting out
After singing at weddings for a few years, he joined with several other choristers to form a group named The Mistletones in 1980. He also sang the national anthems at Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Maple Leafs games between 1988 and 1992. Throughout this time he was also working at various non-musical jobs, to keep a steady income. During one of these jobs as circulation representative for the Toronto Sun, Conrad Black heard him singing at company parties. Black, along with other executives, financed McDermott's independent recording of Danny Boy in 1992, which was picked up and released in North America by EMI Music Canada. Following this unexpected success, McDermott decided to pursue a professional singing career.
[edit] Professional career
McDermott performed his first concert on October 5, 1993 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there he continued to tour the rest of Canada, performing as an opening act for The Chieftains. Throughout 1994 he went on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, following the great success of Danny Boy, which had been ranked Number 1 on the charts there. Next, in 1995 he went on a tour of the United Kingdom with The Seekers.
At this point in his career he was becoming recognized internationally, so he started to tour regularly as a solo act rather than an opening act. He also appeared at several special events including the D-Day ceremonies in France in 1995, and the US Democratic National Convention in 1996. He has also appeared on TV several times, both as a host of CBC Television concert specials in 1997, and in his own television special titled John McDermott: A Time to Remember which aired on PBS in 2002.
McDermott also joined with Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan to form The Irish Tenors. After performing a large concert in Dublin, Ireland in 1998, they spent some time touring the US, appearing on TV, and releasing a gold record.
[edit] Discography
- Danny Boy (1993) (double platinum record)
- Old Friends (1994) (platinum record)
- Love is a Voyage (1995)
- When I Grow Too Old To Dream (1997)
- Christmas Memories (1998)
- Danny Boy Collection (1998)
- If Ye Break Faith.... (1998)
- Remembrance (1999)
- Love is a Voyage, Enhanced Re-release (2000)
- A Day to Myself (2001)
- O Canada (2001)
- A Time To Remember (2002)
- Stories of Love (2003)
- Songs of the Isles - IRELAND (2004)
- Songs of the Isles - SCOTLAND (2004)
- Just Plain Folk (2005)
- On A Whim - The Songs of Ron Sexsmith (2006)
[edit] Awards and recognition
- For his support for veterans' causes, John McDermott was made an honorary member of The War Amps.
- Also for supporting veterans' causes, he has received the US Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Bob Hope Award.
- Received five Juno nominations (1993-1998)
- McDermott was called the "worthy heir to the famed Irish tenor John McCormack" (Chicago Sun Times).
