Donnie Munro (Scottish Gaelic: Donaidh Rothach /dɔnɪ rɔhəx/) (born 2 August 1953) is a Scottish musician, and former lead singer of the band

Runrig Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s (the band's most succe ...

. A native speaker of Scots Gaelic, much of his work is in that language.

Early life

Munro was born in Uig,

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

in the Inner Hebrides. He attended

Gray's School of Art Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ranked among the Top 20 ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and earned a postgraduate degree in teaching at

Moray House The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood Campus, located between the C ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Music career

He first saw Runrig play in 1973 and was approached one year later to become a member of the band. As lead singer of Runrig, Munro became established as a Gaelic music performer of the 1980s and 1990s. Munro left Runrig in 1997 to pursue a career in politics. His final performance was a farewell concert at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

on 29 August. Munro released a solo album, ''Heart of America'', done in collaboration with fellow Skye songwriters Blair Douglas and Richard Macintyre, and won Album of the Year in the Scottish TradMusic Awards 2006. He continues to work as the Director of Development at

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig () (Great Barn of Ostaig) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay, Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle (the ...

, Scotland's National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture on

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

. Munro completed a series of

live shows Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

titled 'An Turas - The Journey', with a forty piece ensemble and is preparing for the release of a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, recorded at the Royal Concert Hall in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, during Celtic Connections 2008. For Runrig's 40th anniversary at the Black Isle show ground at Muir of Ord on 10 August 2013, Munro appeared as a special guest and performed three songs. For Runrig's farewell concert, "The Last Dance" in City Park, Stirling, on 18 August 2018, Munro appeared as a special guest, performing two songs.

Politics

Munro was elected as

Rector of the University of Edinburgh The Lord Rector of The University of Edinburgh is elected every three years by the students and staff at The University of Edinburgh. Seldom referred to as ''Lord Rector'', the incumbent is more commonly known just as the ''Rector''. Role Th ...

in 1991, a position he held until 1994. He contested the UK Parliamentary seat of Ross, Skye and Inverness West in the 1997 General Election but was defeated by

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...

(Liberal Democrat). He then contested the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

seat of Ross, Skye and Inverness West at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election for

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, but was defeated by

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

John Farquhar Munro John Farquhar Munro (Gaelic: ''Iain Fearchar Rothach''; 26 August 1934 – 26 January 2014) was a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ross, Skye and Inverness West from 1999 until his ret ...

. These necessitated his leaving the band, which he did in 1997. His reasons for departure were a matter for lengthy private discussion over a two-year period but were never the subject of public discourse. Munro was alleged to have given up the offer of a 'safe' Labour seat in Central Scotland as he had already agreed and been adopted as a candidate to contest his own native Highland constituency, coming close to winning this hitherto safe Liberal Democrat seat in the 1999 Scottish election.

Honours

In 1996 he gave the Sabhal Mòr Lecture. In 1998 Munro was elected as the first rector of the

UHI Millennium Institute The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) is an integrated, tertiary institution encompassing both further and higher education. It is composed of 12 colleges and research institutions spread around the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Pe ...

, a post that lasted 3 years.

Solo discography

Studio albums

* '' On The West Side'' (1999) * ''Across The City And The World'' (2002) * ''Gaelic Heart'' (2003) * ''Heart Of America (Across The Great Divide)'' (2006)

Live albums

* ''Donnie Munro Live'' (2000) * ''Donnie Munro And Friends'' (2006) * ''Donnie Munro Live - An Turas'' (2008) * ''Sweet Surrender - Live Acoustic'' (2015)

Compilation albums

* ''Fields Of The Young'' (2004) * ''Donnie Munro - Best Of'' (2005)

References

External links

Official WebsiteSabhal Mòr Ostaig Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Donnie 1953 births Living people Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates University of the Highlands and Islands 20th-century Scottish male singers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Robert Gordon University People from the Isle of Skye Rectors of the University of Edinburgh Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Runrig members Scottish rock musicians Scottish Gaelic singers 21st-century Scottish male singers People educated at Portree High School