Benny Moré

Beny Moré appears as a character in the novel The Island of Eternal Love (Penguin Random House, 2008), by Cuban-American writer Daína Chaviano, who also concludes her novel with a chapter entitled "Today as Yesterday", one of the best interpretations of this singer. Moré is also remembered in the 2006 film, El Benny, which is based on parts of his life, and includes new versions of his songs performed by musicians including Chucho Valdés, Juan Formell and Orishas.

Moré has been cited as the greatest singer in Cuban music history by critics and musicians. In 1999, Moré was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame and the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. The Benny Moré Memorial Award was named in honor of the artist and was given to artists who were influential in Latin music. On 11 June 2006, Moré was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame at Celia Cruz Park in Union City, New Jersey, a heavily Cuban-American community that has hosted musical presentations and multimedia lectures on the singer.

Numerous tribute albums consisting of cover versions of Moré's songs have been released by artists such as Tito Puente (1978 and 1979), Charanga de la 4 (1981), Bobby Carcassés (1985), Tropicana All-Stars (2004) and Jon Secada (2017).

Moré suffered from alcoholism and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963 at age 43. His funeral was attended by tens of thousands of people.

Also in 1952, Moré was told that Duarte Brito was not taking Moré to certain Saturday engagements because Moré was black. Moré was furious and brought the issue up to the RCA Records agent in Cuba (Maurico Conde). When nothing was done, Moré decided to form his own orchestra. The first performance of Moré's Banda Gigante was in the CMQ radio program Cascabeles Candado on August 3, 1953. The original lineup featured Ignacio Cabrera "Cabrerita" (piano); Miguel Franca, Santiago Peñalver, Roberto Barreto, Celso Gómez and Virgilio Vixama (saxophones); Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, Rigoberto "Rabanito" Jiménez and Domingo Corbacho (trumpets); José Miguel Gómez (trombone); Alberto Limonta (double bass); Tabaquito (congas); Clemente Piquero "Chicho" (bongos); Rolando Laserie (drums), and Fernando Álvarez and Enrique Benitez (vocals). The Banda was generally sixteen musicians, comparable in size with the orchestras of Xavier Cugat and Pérez Prado. Although Moré could not read music, he arranged material by singing parts to his arrangers, which included pianists Cabrerita and Peruchín, as well as trombonist Generoso Jiménez.

During the spring of 1952, around April, Moré returned to Cuba. He was a star in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Puerto Rico, but virtually unknown on the island. His first Cuban recordings were with Mariano Mercerón & his Orchestra, including songs like "Fiesta de Tambores", "Salomón", "La Chola", etc. Moré began alternating between performances in the Cadena Oriental radio station and trips to Havana to record at the RCA studios in CMQ Radiocentro.

He and other performers such as Amalia Aguilar appeared as themselves in the Ernesto Cortázar-directed 1949 film, "En cada puerto un amor," a film in the musical, comedy and drama genres.

Moré replaced Miguel Matamoros as lead singer, and the latter dedicated himself to leading the band. On 21 June 1945, he went with Conjunto Matamoros to Mexico, where he performed in two of the most famous cabarets: the Montparnasse and the Río Rosa. He made several recordings. Conjunto Matamoros returned to Havana, but Moré remained in Mexico. Rafael Cueto said to him: "Fine, but just remember that they call burros 'bartolo' here. Stay, but change your name." "Ok," replied Moré, "from now on my name is Beny, Beny Moré." Moré was left penniless and got permission to work from the performing artists' union. With this, he was able to get a job at the Río Rosa, where he formed the Dueto Fantasma (also known as Dueto Antillano) with Lalo Montané, in December 1945.

Ciro Rodríguez, of the famed Trío Matamoros, heard Moré singing in the bar El Temple and was greatly impressed. In 1942, Conjunto Matamoros was engaged for a live performance for Radio Mil Diez. However, Miguel Matamoros was indisposed and asked Mozo Borgellá, to lend him a singer. Borgellá sent Moré, who worked for several years with Conjunto Matamoros, making a number of recordings.

In his first appearance, Moré had scarcely begun to sing when the bell sounded, and was booed off the stage. He later competed again and won first prize. He then landed his first stable job with the Conjunto Cauto led by Mozo Borgellá. He also sang with success on the radio station CMZ with Lázaro Cordero's Sexteto Fígaro. In 1941, he made his debut on Radio Mil Diez performing with the Conjunto Cauto, directed by Mozo Borgella.

Moré started his career with the Trío Matamoros in the 1940s and after a tour in Mexico he decided to stay in the country. Both Moré and dancer Ninón Sevilla made their cinematic debut in 1946's Carita de cielo, but Moré focused on his music career. In the late 1940s, he sang guaracha-mambos with Pérez Prado, achieving great success. Moré returned to Cuba in 1952 and worked with Bebo Valdés and Ernesto Duarte. In 1953, he formed the Banda Gigante, which became one of the leading Cuban big bands of the 1950s. He suffered from alcoholism and died of liver cirrhosis in 1963 at the age of 43.

The eldest of 18 children, Moré was born in the town of Santa Isabel de las Lajas in the former Santa Clara Province, current Cienfuegos Province, in central Cuba. His parents were Virginia Moré and Silvestre Gutiérrez. His maternal great-great grandfather, Ta Ramón Gundo Paredes (later changed to Ta Ramón Gundo Moré), was said to be the son of the king of a tribe in the Kingdom of Kongo who was captured by slave traders and sold to a Cuban plantation owner named Ramon Paredes and subsequently to another Cuban landowner named Conde Moré (Paredes/Moré was later liberated and died as a freeman at age 94). As a child, Moré learned to play the guitar, making his first instrument at age six, according to his mother, from "a stick and a sardine can that served as the sound box." In 1936, at age seventeen, he left Las Lajas for Havana, where he lived by selling bruised and damaged fruits and vegetables and medicinal herbs. Six months later, he returned to Las Lajas and went to cut cane for a season with his brother Teodoro. With the money he earned and Teodoro's savings, he bought his first guitar in Morón, Cuba.

Benny Moré was born on August 24, 1919 in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Cuba as Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré.