James McGregor

James "McGoo" McGregor (b. 30 January 1961, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American production manager, technician, drummer, and percussionist based in Shakopee, Minnesota. He was a gopher and drum technician for Prince and The New Power Generation in the early-to-mid 1990s and has worked as a Backline Crew Chief for Beyoncé and Destiny's Child since March 2002, also serving as a production manager for Lizzo and Ciara. James McGregor studied percussion at Iowa State University. McGregor grew up in Minneapolis, in the same neighborhood as Terry Lewis, Jellybean Johnson, and Jerome Benton, and knew Prince in his teenage years. James was close friends with Tony M., Kirk Johnson, and Damon Dickson, members of The Game Boyz crew, who spent their afternoons in the fall of 1983 dancing outside of First Avenue club, one of Purple Rain's filming locations, in hopes that Prince would notice them. The plan surprisingly worked, as Prince, indeed, noticed the trio and subsequently invited them to participate in the film. After the Purple Rain premiere, The Game Boyz appeared in the Glam Slam 1988 music video and performed with Prince on the Nude Tour in 1990, traveling across the UK, Europe, and Japan. In early 1991, The Game Boyz invited McGoo to visit Paisley Park Studios, where he met Prince's production manager, Skip Johnson, and was soon hired. According to McGregor, he worked on every tour, rehearsal, and private Prince event between 1991 and 1998. He served as Carmen Electra's technician on the Diamonds & Pearls Tour in April–July 1992. In 1993, McGoo participated in Act I / II tours across the USA, the UK, and Europe, playing percussion with The NPG as a warm-up act on many dates. McGregor was a drum technician on The Ultimate Live Experience Tour, appearing as The New Power Generation's guest percussionist on the main stage in March 1995. One of the songs on the unreleased album by Paisley Park Power Trio, The Undertaker, is dedicated to McGregor. This composition, Poor Goo, was later released via the NPG Music Club monthly subscription in December 2001 as part of the NPGMC Edition #11 bundle. After his collaboration with Prince, James McGregor continued working as Michael Bland's technician. He then served as a stage manager for Blink-182, a guitar technician for Primus, a drum & percussion tech with David Sanborn, and later partnered with numerous other prominent musicians and acts, including Maxwell, D'Angelo, R. Kelly, Boyz II Men, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Kelly Rowland, Mariah Carey, Pitbull, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke, Toad The Wet Sprocket, and Charlie Puth.