Jon McMurray


Jon James, born Jonathon James McMurray, was a professional freeskier, musician, stunt artist and film maker.
He was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and based in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Skiing

Known for combining freeskiing and extreme stunts, James was the first action sports personality to successfully land a back-flip transferring from rail to rail. He began his career as a professional athlete during high school, and competed and filmed internationally throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. He was featured in action sports movies by Matchstick Productions, Poorboyz Productions, Level 1 Productions, and others. In addition to receiving international exposure from Sports Illustrated Magazine, James was also the owner and founder of Loose Canon Productions, a film company that released the sports action lifestyle film Without A Cause. His major sponsors throughout his career included Oakley, Skull Candy, Rossignol, Rip Curl and Smith Optics.

Injuries

James' tendency to perform dangerous stunts led to several serious injuries including seven surgeries, a fractured neck and a broken back on two separate occasions.

Death

On October 20, 2018, James died while attempting to walk on the wing of an aircraft, a stunt known as wing walking, while filming a music video. James fell off the wing too close to the ground to deploy his back up parachute. He was 34.

Film appearances

James began rapping and producing hip hop music while on tour in the action sports industry after breaking his back. He performed under the name Jon James, his legal first and middle name. His album Rex Leo was released 2016.

Radio appearances