Benny Moré

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Bronze statue of Benny Moré in Cienfuegos , Cuba.

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 interpreted in particular Son montuno , Mambo and Bolero .

Live and act

Moré was born as the eldest of 18 children in Santa Isabel de las Lajas in the former Las Villas province in central Cuba. He learned to play the guitar at the age of six, and at 20 he performed regularly in Havana's bars and cafes; at that time he was still using his own name.

On the occasion of these performances, Moré made the acquaintance of the Trío Matamoros , whose singer he later also became. In 1945 he went to Mexico with the Conjunto Matamoros , where he remained the only band member and took his stage name Benny Moré. In Mexico City , Moré made friends with the pianist Pérez Prado and performed with him often.

At the end of 1950 he returned to Cuba and in 1952 joined the Orquesta Aragón . With the Banda Gigante he founded a large ensemble of up to forty musicians, to whom he sang their voices because he could not write down notes. In 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 of pancreatitis at the age of 43 . It was estimated that over 100,000 fans attended his funeral.

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

In 2006 the feature film El Benny was released , the debut work by Cuban director Jorge Luis Sánchez, which is based on the life story of Moré. Stars of contemporary Cuban music were involved in the musical soundtrack, including Chucho Valdés , Juan Formell and Orishas .

Web links

Commons : Benny Moré  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. El Benny on IMDB.com (English)