Benny Moré

Benny Moré, origin. Bartolomé Moré, ( born August 24, 1919 in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Cuba, † February 19, 1963 in Havana ) was a Cuban singer who particularly Son montuno, mambo and bolero interpreted.

Moré was born the eldest of eighteen children in Santa Isabel de las Lajas in the former province of Las Villas in central Cuba. At age six, he learned to play guitar and twenty he regularly performed in the bars and cafes of Havana; At this time, he still used his own name.

On the occasion of these performances Moré made ​​acquaintance with the Trío Matamoros, whose singer, he was later also. In 1945 he went with the Conjunto Matamoros to Mexico, where he remained as the only member of the band and his stage name Benny Moré accepted. In Mexico City itself Moré befriended pianist Perez Prado and also occurred more often with this on.

The end of 1950 he returned to Cuba in 1952 and joined the Orquesta Aragón. With the Banda Gigante, he founded a large ensemble of up to forty musicians, which he sang to their voices, because he could write down any notes. 1956 and 1957 they played in Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, Colombia, Panama, Mexico and the United States of America.

After the Cuban Revolution Moré stayed in Cuba and died there at the age of 43 years to pancreatitis. It was estimated that over 100,000 fans attended his funeral.

In his memory, every year in September in Cienfuegos, Cuba is a festival that bears his name. On the main street of Cienfuegos is a life-size bronze statue of the artist.