
He also appeared at several special events including the D-Day ceremonies in France in 1995, and the United States Democratic National Convention in 1996. Next, in 1995, he went on a tour of Britain with The Seekers.Īt 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. 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 and achieved triple platinum in New Zealand. From there he continued to tour the rest of Canada, performing as an opening act for The Chieftains. He performed his first concert at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre on 5 October 1993 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Following this unexpected success, McDermott decided to pursue a professional singing career. 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. From 1984 through 1992, he worked as a circulation representative for the Toronto Sun Conrad Black heard him singing at company parties. Starting in 1988, he has regularly been called upon to sing the national anthems at Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Maple Leafs games. He performed "The Ballad of Harry Warden", the closing theme of the Canadian slasher film My Bloody Valentine (1981).

After singing at weddings for a few years, he joined with several other choristers to form a group, named The Mistletones, in 1980.
