Benny Moré

The Greatest Cuban Singer of All Time

Benny Moré (also spelled Beny Moré) performing one of his popular numbers.

Portrait of Benny Moré. Illustrated by Daniel J. Middleton.

There is no Cuban singer on earth who eclipses Benny Moré. Famous Cuban musicians who succeeded him, and have achieved more wealth, unanimously salute Benny as the greatest singer in the history of Cuban popular music. Since his rise to fame in the 1940s, Benny amassed a fanbase in the millions. While his career was brief due to premature death, his infectious mambos, rumbas, and boleros continue to resonate with music lovers today.

In his native Cuba, they regard him as El Bárbaro del Ritmo (The Barbarian of Rhythm) and El Sonero Mayor (The Greatest Sonero). To be considered a sonero is the highest honor among Salsa singers. It means that you can improvise with a unique voice on any accompanying rhythm or melody to the immense thrill of your listeners. For Cubans, Benny Moré—with his smooth tenor voice and clever lyricism—stands head and shoulders above them all. One of his former band members, Generoso Jiménez, said of his vocal ability:

“He had an amazing range, the lows, the highs.”

Benny was born Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Cuba on August 24, 1919. He was a descendent of slaves, namely the people of the Kingdom of Kongo. As a child, Benny used a board and some string to make a guitar until he could afford the real thing. He taught himself to play and began strumming Congo rhythms infused with Yuka and Makuta styles that lie at the heart of Cuban music, such as conga. Benny performed at parties and religious gatherings to help provide for his family, which included 18 siblings. Benny lived in extreme poverty, but when he came of age, he moved to Camaguey—a city in central Cuba—where he found work at the sugar mill. He also learned the local Spanish songs sung by the Campesinos or peasant farmers. Benny merged the two forms in his later music. Many of the workers at the sugar mill loved Benny’s performances, and they encouraged him to make a career of it, but he felt a steady income was necessary to feed his family, so he remained at the mill until 1940.

From left to right, Pacho Alonso, La Lupe, and Benny Moré pose for a photograph, ca. 1959. The three artists were contracted with RCA Victor’s Cuban subsidiary label Discuba.

That is the year he finally heeded the advice of the farmers. That year, while still a teenager, he moved to Havana and played guitar solos in the streets and sang. He also worked odd jobs wherever he could. In a few years, his efforts paid off. In 1945, Benny accepted an invitation to join Trio Matamoros. Miguel Matamoros founded the group in 1925, and they became Conjunto Matamoros to include Benny as the lead singer. Together, they performed the group’s signature bolero-son music until 1947.

After touring Mexico with Conjunto Matamoros, Benny decided to stay in the country when the King of Mambo, Perez Prado, invited him to join his orchestra. Benny later recorded music for RCA and appeared in several movies. He returned to Cuba in 1953 and eventually formed a band with his cousin, Alfredo Armenteros, who was a sensational trumpet player. The band was called Banda Gigante, and Benny modeled it on the big American bands of the swing era. While the band was a smashing success and made Benny a legend, he drank heavily between performances. On February 19, 1963, Benny died of liver cirrhosis in Havana. He was only 43.

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This article appears in 12 Extraordinary Black Latinos.

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