Trevor Rees, who became known as Toy Mic Trev throughout South Wales for his singing performances on Cardiff's Queen Street, has died.

The busking legend, who was a fixture on the street for many years, passed away yesterday morning. He was 80.

His close friends and neighbours described him as "a gentle soul" who loved his late wife and a "lovely, lovely man".

It is four months since he made an emotional return to the street, ten years or so after he last sang there. A month or so later, he returned again .

Trevor was known as Toy Mic Trev because of the distinctive children's toy microphone with which he would entertain the public from his regular spot.

(Image: walesonline)

Having last been seen there around 2007, many people assumed he had already passed away. But we discovered he was living in Pentre, in the Rhondda. This is that story . He was delighted to have been found and overwhelmed by the reaction to his story.

There was an unprecedented outpouring of love and joy for the singer with the echo microphone.

The tale quickly took on a life of its own with readers sharing their memories of the little man with the big voice.

There was one constant request among the thousands of comments and that was for Trev to make a return for one last farewell.

So we asked the crooner, who celebrated his 80th birthday in March, if he would be willing to revisit his old haunt for an impromptu performance.

(Image: walesonline)

Happily he agreed. We took him back and people loved him . Trev told us at the time: “I would love to return for one last performance. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response to the story. It means so much to me that people remembered me and enjoyed my songs. I couldn’t believe the reaction. I haven’t stopped smiling.

“That’s why I decided to come back to Cardiff and revisit the old spot where I sang.”

As a toy mic was placed at the exact place where Trev used to sing, people looked on quizzically.

A small crowd gathered and cheered as they began to realise who it was. There were whispers of “Oh my god – that’s Toy Mic Trev” and “Remember him?”

Others cheered and clapped as Trev went smoothly from one song to the next, describing his performance as “amazing” and “fantastic”.

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One woman who stopped to watch the performance said: “I think it’s beautiful to find someone who can stand there and sing and love it. And we’re loving it too.”

Another man said: “It’s fabulous to see Trev back. Well done Trev, back in town. He’s a childhood memory for many of us – old Toy Mic Trev. I can see his mic has changed colour mind.”

In between songs fans told Trevor they were glad to see him back in his old spot while chucking a few coins in his hat which lay on the floor. One little girl could be heard asking: “Mam, who’s that?” with the mother replying: “That’s a legend.”

And the cheers didn’t stop after his performance as Trev was then presented with a cake in the shape of a toy mic.

As his face lit up the growing crowd joined together to sing a rendition of Happy Birthday.

“It’s been great. It’s nice to be back on my home soil,” Trev said. “Can I sing another song now?”

Sandra Williams, a neighbour who cooked meals and did shopping for him, said she found out he'd passed away when she called the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, where he'd been taken, to find out how he was doing.

She said: “He’d been bad for a little while. I was making him dinners and I don’t think he was eating them all. He had lost a lot of weight.

“The next thing I knew he had been admitted to the Royal Glamorgan. Yesterday at about 2pm I phoned the hospital and I asked how he was.

“I was told ‘I’m so sorry to tell you but he passed away early this morning'. We knew he wasn’t well. It’s so sad.”

Such was Trevor's fame in the city where he sang between the late 1990s and around 2007, he once featured in an exhibition of Cardiff greats, was a special guest on the Dick and Dom Show and in 2001 opened up Radio 1’s One Big Weekend concerts in the city.

As well as students, he was also hugely popular with children.

(Image: Andrew Parry)

Trevor was originally from London - he grew up in Paddington, though all his relatives are Welsh. Music was always in the family.

“I’ve been singing since I was a boy,” he told us in March. “When I was small I was in the church choir. I always loved singing. It’s in the blood.

“My mother could sing, my father was in the choir, my mother’s father used to compose music, when I was small I used to go to Saturday morning pictures and you’d have an organist that would pop up on stage and we’d all sing songs together.”

(Image: Andrew Parry)

As he was older he graduated to performing in clubs around London.

“When I got to my late teens I had a lot of bookings in London in the clubs. That’s where it all started.

“I used to sing cabaret and social clubs. There used to be a Welsh club called the Gwalia Club where I used to sing.

“It was different days back then, you’d sing in the clubs, then it was cash in hand, no questions asked.”

(Image: Andrew Parry)

Working by day as a kitchen fitter and handyman, music would take up his evenings and weekends. He had already been married and divorced when he arrived in Wales with his second wife, Mo, in the 1990s.

“I grew up in Paddington but all my family were Welsh and I’ve always felt Welsh,” he said. “Because I had relatives here and had been told there would be great opportunities to sing and busk, that’s how we came to Wales.”

Trev’s life, however, wasn't without its share of setbacks and sadness.

(Image: Andrew Parry)

His twin brother passed away from dementia and his younger brother committed suicide. Losing Mo, the woman who was his rock and who would often accompany him on his busking trips to Cardiff, to cancer in 2011 hit him hard.

“I knew Mo before I got married the first time,” he said. “After I was divorced from my first marriage, it was fate that brought us back together.

“I knew her as a friend in London then years later we met up again by chance and that was it.

“She would often come with me when I would busk and look after the money, so nobody tried to pinch it,” he smiled.

(Image: Andrew Parry) (Image: Andrew Parry)

“She was a marvellous woman. She was Irish, from Dublin. I was with her 21 years. She’s been gone seven years now but I still miss her every day.

“When you’re young you think the next day will never come but now the days whizz by. When you’re getting older time flashes by.”

In his flat, he showed us his many CDs and told us about the song that meant the most to him and his late wife.

“The Last Waltz – I love that song,” he beamed. “It brings back so many memories.”

A committed Christian who still attended church once a week, Trev’s faith was evidently important to him. He didn’t have children, but with his close knit group of friends and a sister-in-law in nearby Tynewydd, he was still very active and got out and about every day.

(Image: Andrew Parry)

Ray Hallaran, a good friend and neighbour of Trevor, said: “He was such a kind and loving chap. He was a gentle soul. He wouldn’t argue with anybody and you’d never see him get angry. And no one had a bad word to say about him.

“I used to sing in bands when I was younger and he loved to talk to me about music. He’d tell me about his heroes, all the old crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He was a nice man and nice to be around. A very caring man who always asked how you were.

“I’ll miss his singing and his sense of humour. He was always laughing. It was always a pleasure to see him. He was just one of those genuine people, you were drawn to him.

“He loved his wife Mo, she was such a character. The only comfort I can take is that they’re now together and Trev is now serenading once again.”

Ms Williams said: “He hadn’t really been well since his wife Mo died. I’m going to miss him - he was always singing. You’d go down to his flat and you’d hear him singing away.

“I recognised him as Toy Mic Trev as soon as I moved in here eight years ago from his days singing in Cardiff. There was one lady, Jane, I remember in here who had her hundredth birthday and Trev sang for her.

“He was such a character. And such a lovely, lovely man. He was an icon, wasn’t he? He will be so missed.”