Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930) became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and 1970s. Monro was a heavy smoker and battled alcoholism from the 1960s until 1981. He died from liver cancer on 7 February 1985. He has been described as "one of the most underrated pop vocalists of the '60s," who "possessed the easiest, most perfect baritone in the business [AllMusic]." Even the Queen has said Matt Monro was the king of singers, while Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney admitted it was Matt they looked up to. Matt Monro was a true Cockney, left school very young and couldn’t read or write. In poll after poll Monro was voted Britain’s best male singer despite performing easy-listening ballads at a time when the charts were full of rock and roll. His great loves were Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, jazz, and, people might be surprised to learn, he was very much into Elvis, too.
