e was born in Buenos Aires, in the neighborhood of Villa Lugano. His parents were José and Josefina Montes.

At age 17 he made his debut with an orchestra of the neighboring area of Mataderos which included young people of the neighborhood. His songs were warmly welcomed by the audience and, for that reason, Héctor was often required by other aggregations that played at the balls of a wide section of the south and west areas of the city and of the Greater Buenos Aires.

From the mid- to the late 40s there was a prosperity, either economically or socially, that allowed people to have a leisure time which was evidenced in the great number of balls held at the neighborhood clubs all weekends.

Tango and jazz orchestras were so much sought after that they were unable to satisfy the demand. Because of that the ones who organized those balls preferred smaller groups: trios or quartets and recorded music.

On Reinaldo Yiso’s recommendation, who was a neighbor of Mataderos, Enrique Francini and Armando Pontier summoned Héctor for an audition and made an appointment at the cabaret Marabú on 345 Maipú Street. They had the need to replace Alberto Podestá who had split with the orchestra for the second time.

He made his debut in the early April 1951 on LR1 Radio El Mundo, sharing the singing role with Julio Sosa.

His first recording was in May that year in which he sang the tango “Discepolín” —on the other side of the record Sosa recorded “Princesa del fango”— and, in January 1952 he cut the waltz “Una triste verdad” by Francini and Mariel Mistral.

In the carnival balls of the same year with my family I went to the Club Racing of Villa del Parque —which was a branch of the Avellaneda headquarters— to witness the performances of the Orquesta Francini-Pontier. I was then sixteen and, on that occasion, an unprecedented event took place, besides Sosa and Montes, two of its former vocalists sang with the orchestra, no less than Roberto Rufino and Alberto Podestá. Those were unforgettable evenings for me.

By the end of that year Héctor Montes got married and, when the carnival appearances of 1953 ended, he decided to quit the orchestra and was replaced by Pablo Moreno.

After that he devoted to trading activities and settled in the province of Jujuy until 1960 when he returned to Buenos Aires.

In 1961 he was summoned by Alberto Di Paulo to share the bill with his peers Osvaldo Arana and Ricardo Ruiz. This was his last season as singer. The following year he quit for good.

After a long medical treatment because in 1985 a tumor was detected he passed away three years later at age fifty-nine.