Donnie Munro

b. Donald Munro, 2 August 1953, Uig, Isle Of Skye, Scotland. Munro made his name as vocalist and guitarist with the highly successful Scottish folk rockers Runrig, before opting to leave the band at the peak of their commercial success to pursue a career in politics. Munro was born on the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, and brought up in an English and Gaelic-speaking household. He initially resisted calls from his old friend Calum MacDonald to join Runrig, concentrating instead on his job teaching Art at Inverness Royal Academy. He eventually relented in 1974 and, after several years with the band on a part-time basis, joined as a full-time member in 1982. Runrig went on to enjoy great success in their native Scotland but were even more popular across the border in England, placing successive albums in the UK Top 10 and broaching the Top 20 with their single ‘An Ubhal As Airde (The Highest Apple)’. At the height of Runrig’s international fame, Munro announced he was leaving the band to run for parliament as a Labour candidate for his home constituency Ross, Skye and Inverness West in the 1997 General Election. He narrowly lost the election to future Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, but immediately threw himself back into teaching and his work for various charities. He narrowly failed to win a seat on the new Scottish parliament in 1999, but was offered the post of Advisor For The Arts to the Scottish government. The same year he launched a solo career with On The West Side. The follow-up, Across The City And The World, featured eight Munro originals and the traditional Gaelic number ‘Calum Sgaire’, and detailed his experiences of growing up on Skye. A Gaelic language album followed later in the year. The multi-talented Munro is also a painter and has exhibited his work at the National Gallery.