# Will Millar > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Will_Millar > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Will_Millar.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Millar > Source revision: 1309459394 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Northern Irish-Canadian singer (born 1940)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Will Millar | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|1|8}} | birth_place = [Ballymena](/source/Ballymena), [County Antrim](/source/County_Antrim), [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland) | origin = | death_date = | death_place = | genre = [Irish folk](/source/Irish_folk_music) | occupation = | instrument = {{Hlist|Vocals|Guitar|Mandolin|Banjo|Tin Whistle|}} | years_active = 1960s-2000s | label = | associated_acts = [The Irish Rovers](/source/The_Irish_Rovers) | website = {{URL|http://willmillar.ca/}} }} '''Will Millar''' (born 1940) is a Northern Irish-Canadian singer best known as a co-founding member of [The Irish Rovers](/source/The_Irish_Rovers).{{cite news |title=Will Millar Never Found His Lost Boyhood |work=[The Calgary Herald](/source/The_Calgary_Herald) |date=11 April 1980 }} Until his departure in 1995, he was the group's front man. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and [tin whistle](/source/tin_whistle). == Early life and career == Born in [Ballymena](/source/Ballymena), [County Antrim](/source/County_Antrim), [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland). Millar and his sister [Sandra Beech](/source/Sandra_Beech) performed as ''The Millar Kids'' before the family emigrated to Canada in 1953 when Millar was 14. Millar formed a Calypso Band, ''Kalypso Kews'', that performed for two years in Toronto's [Yonge Street](/source/Yonge_Street) at the Calypso Club. Millar moved to [Calgary, Alberta](/source/Calgary%2C_Alberta) and hosted a children's television show as well as forming an Irish folk trio. In the 1960s, Millar invited his brother, then 15, [George](/source/George_Millar_(singer)), his cousin [Joe](/source/Joe_Millar) and [Jimmy Ferguson](/source/Jimmy_Ferguson) to stay with him in Calgary. He brought them on his television show and started performing with them at Calgary's first folk club, The Depression. == Irish Rovers == Under the guidance of Les Weinstein, Millar's manager, he took the new group to [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco) and after an audition they made the Purple Onion in San Francisco and the Ice House in [Pasadena](/source/Pasadena%2C_California) their home base club. In 1968, under the production of Bud Dant of [Decca Records](/source/Decca_Records), the group's recording of the [Shel Silverstein](/source/Shel_Silverstein) song "[The Unicorn](/source/The_Unicorn_(song))" went to #1 in [Canada](/source/Canada) and #3 on the Billboard pop chart in the U.S. and became the Irish Rovers' signature song.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Between 1970 and 1973, Millar travelled back and forth between Ireland and Canada to manage an Irish Georgian manor and to host a TV show. Their CBC-TV show included guests such as [Johnny Cash](/source/Johnny_Cash), the [Carter Family](/source/Carter_Family), [Waylon Jennings](/source/Waylon_Jennings), [Pat Boone](/source/Pat_Boone) and [Roger Miller](/source/Roger_Miller). In 1980, he and his wife Catherine lived in [Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island](/source/Charlottetown%2C_Prince_Edward_Island) before moving to [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia) in 1982. In 1995, Millar, after 30 years of leading the Irish Rovers grew restless to pursue other creative interests. He formed a new band called Some Mad Irishmen and released two CDs and toured extensively with his creation of the stage production of "Ireland..where the song and dance began". He built a recording studio with his friend John Ellis and recorded a children's CD on the Attic label. He also appeared semi-regularly on ''[The Red Green Show](/source/The_Red_Green_Show)'' as Jimmy McVeigh, a postman who was trying to repair a boat. At this time he devoted a good part of his time to develop his first love of Art. Since his departure from the Irish Rovers, Millar has produced six solo albums. Four Celtic instrumental CDs were released by Chacra Music, ''The Lark in the Clear Aire'', ''Celtic Seasons'', ''Celtic Reverie'' and ''Journey of the Celt''. Two of these albums went Gold in Canada. Millar has published two books, ''Children of the Unicorn'' (published by McClelland and Stewart) and ''Messing About in Boats'' (published by Whitecap Publishers). The latter made it to the top ten in ''[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)'''s non-fiction list. Today Millar's Art hangs in many Galleries across Canada and also back in Ireland. His annual Gallery Shows have become moderately popular. In 2013, Millar and his wife Catherine lived next to [Quamichan Lake](/source/Quamichan_Lake) in the municipality of [North Cowichan](/source/North_Cowichan) on [Vancouver Island](/source/Vancouver_Island).{{cite news|last1=Maguire|first1=Maeve|title=The Station interview: Will Millar|url=http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/news/262627331.html|accessdate=17 March 2015|work=Cowichan News-Leader Pictorial|date=Jun 16, 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Litwin|first1=Grania|title=Irish Rover and wife live dream in Duncan|url=https://vancouversun.com/business/Irish+Rover+wife+live+dream+Duncan/8829157/story.html|accessdate=17 March 2015|work=[Vancouver Sun](/source/Vancouver_Sun)|date=Aug 26, 2013|archive-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231173644/http://www.vancouversun.com/business/irish+rover+wife+live+dream+duncan/8829157/story.html|url-status=dead}} ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == *[http://www.castproductions.com/willmillar.html Will Millar biography] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Will}} Category:Canadian banjoists Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian male guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Male guitarists from Northern Ireland Category:Male folk singers from Northern Ireland Category:Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Canada Category:People from Ballymena Category:Ulster Scots people Category:Living people Category:1940 births Category:20th-century male musicians from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century male musicians from Northern Ireland Category:20th-century guitarists from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century guitarists from Northern Ireland Category:Musicians from County Antrim Category:20th-century folk musicians from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century folk musicians from Northern Ireland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Will Millar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Millar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Millar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.