About: Tony Romero

A Jazz singer who was pushed out of the industry by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones made a triumphant return to the stage at the weekend after more than four decades.

Tony Romero was a jazz singer performing around the world in the 1960s He reached a pinnacle when he signed a recording contract with Decca, but the rise of bands such as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones meant Mr Romero found his music out of fashion with the record industry.

He walked away from music for the next four decades working as a salesman in the gambling industry and setting up home in Capel. But at the weekend he stepped back on stage in the village for his first full show this century.

Despite changes in the music industry Mr Romero, whose real name is Tony Lyons, says the appetite for his live performances has never gone away. He said,

“As recording artist I was around at the same time as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were coming to the fore. So as a recording artist I was out of fashion. But on stage I was still very much in fashion.”

The 86 year old added.

“I got a recording contract with Decca, which was a major label at the time. Back then you couldn’t go independent, you had to be signed and then you were in their hands. You had to do what they decided and hope it clicked and it didn’t click for me. The record almost completely flopped so I got out feeling very depressed. Getting out was probably the biggest mistake of my life but, at the time, I was so downhearted.”

But at the weekend he stepped back into the spotlight with a set that included “Just In Time and Goodie Goodie.”

He admits the performing itch never left him and he was excited to play to a live audience again.

“You get to a certain age and you think “What do I really like doing ?” he said. “Then you think” I am going to go and do that.”

Mr Romero added,

”I still felt I had it in me and I wanted to do something I can still do and absolutely love doing.” He says he has sung a couple of songs in pubs and at parties in the interim but stepping back on stage was something else. It was the adrenalin.” It is the feeling when the crowd really warms to you.”

“You feel absolute rubbish before you go on, it is nerve racking. You never get over that. But when the crowd warms to you, and start applauding, the feeling is so fabulous.”