Lloyd, a tenor, was noted for being one of the first Welsh solo singers to seek a broader audience beyond Wales, in the concert halls and recording studios of England, mainland Europe, and North America.

At age 14, he left school to become an apprentice carpenter, but soon began to acquire a reputation as a singer at local eisteddfodau.

[1] Lloyd entered the Guildhall School of Music in 1933, having won a scholarship to study singing under Walter Hyde.

He won several prestigious prizes at the school, and then in 1938 took on his first notable role, as Macduff in Glyndebourne Festival Opera's production of Verdi's Macbeth.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Lloyd's career was put on hold, spending five years serving in the band of the Welsh Guards.