Matt Monro

Biography

Matt Monro was a British singer, born in Shoreditch, London. He took part and won several times in a radio show called “Talent time”, and after that he was offered a concert on radio in 1953. He became a featured vocalist with the BBC Show Band. He released his first album in 1957. Monro did not rise to real fame. In 1959 he recorded a song “Bound for Texas” for the Chaplin revue, a show containing Charlie Chaplin shorts.
When in 1960 he was asked to record a song for Peter Sellers’ album. However, when Sellers heard that, he recorded it himself. Producer George Martin however, offered Monro a contract which resulted in his first and biggest UK hit “Portrait of my love”. The song was followed by “My kind of girl”, “Softly as I leave you” and “From Russia with love”. Monro achieved fame in the United States when “My Kind of Girl” (1961) and “Walk Away” (1964) hit the Top 40. He represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. He also recorded a cover version of Beatles’ hit “Yesterday” and in 1965, he sang the title song to the movie “Born free”. 
In 1966, Matt Monro moved to the United States to make a career there.