Feeney was a native of
Swinford,
County Mayo. After nine years working in England as a labourer, in 1928 he emigrated to the United States, where for thirty years he was one of the leading
Irish-American musicians, rated alongside
Michael Coleman,
James Morrison and The Flanagan Brothers. He became a labelmate of
Count Basie,
Louis Armstrong, and
Bing Crosby on
Decca Record Company, and was a regular performer on The Shaefer Show on radio. Feeney's voice was described as easy, warm and relaxed, his repertoire including Irish favourites such as "
Galway Bay" and "Moonlight in Mayo", as well as recitals of
Mozart,
Handel and
Schubert lieder. He regularly played sold-out performances in
Carnegie Hall. John Feeney returned to Ireland in 1964, where he died three years later. He was buried on Christmas Eve, 1967, in a family grave in
Ballina, County Mayo. ==References==