Aled Jones
Encyclopedia
Aled Jones is a Welsh
singer and television
/radio
personality, broadcaster and television presenter (Escape to the Country and Cash in the Attic) who first came to fame as a treble
(the third and highest vocal range). He is notable for presenting Songs of Praise
on BBC 1, BBC Radio 2
's, The Early Breakfast Show, Good Morning Sunday and The Choir on BBC Radio 3
. He is currently mentoring choirgirl Isabel Suckling
, the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca Records
and first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label to date. Her debut album, greatly endorsed by Jones, who described it as "breathtaking", was released on 29 November 2010.
, Wales
, the only child
of Nest Rowlands, a teacher, and Derek John Jones, a draughtsman for a shipbuilder. He was raised in the small Welsh-speaking community of Llandegfan
, in Anglesey
and attended Ysgol David Hughes
. Jones joined the choir of Bangor Cathedral
at age nine and was lead soloist within two years, although he never made Head Chorister. The remarkable clarity of his treble voice was appreciated by a member of the congregation, Hefina Orwig Evans, who wrote a letter to local record company Sain, and he was duly signed. In 1982 he won the Cerdd Dant
solo competitions for competitors under 12 at the Urdd Eisteddfod.
Aled Jones became famous for the cover version
of "Walking in the Air
", the song from Channel 4
's 1982 animated film The Snowman
, based on the book by Raymond Briggs
. The record reached No. 5 in the UK charts in 1985. (However, the version used in the film was not performed by Jones, but by Peter Auty
, a St. Paul's Cathedral choirboy.)
Aled Jones also, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, was behind the Santa Claus The Movie, original motion picture soundtrack, Every Christmas Eve of 1985.
In June 1985, Jones was the subject of the Emmy award winning BBC Omnibus documentary The Treble.
His recording career was temporarily halted when his voice broke at 16. By this time he had recorded 16 albums, sold more than six million albums, and sung for Pope John Paul II
, the Queen
, and the Prince
and Princess of Wales
in a private recital, as well as presenting numerous children's television programmes. He sang at the wedding of music celebrities Bob Geldof
and Paula Yates
in 1986. He also had the distinction of being the first artist to have two classical albums listed simultaneously in the popular music charts. He also worked with Mike Oldfield
(Pictures in the Dark
) and Leonard Bernstein
(Chichester Psalms
). In 1986 he sang the oratorio Athalia
with Emma Kirkby
. His first biography, "Walking on Air", was published in 1986
Jones went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music
and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
, before beginning his adult recording career, with a largely religious/inspirational repertoire. In 1995 he took the leading role in the long-running production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
on a Blackpool
pier.
Jones has recorded 24 albums, many of which reached gold or platinum status in the UK
and Australia
. He performs as a lyric baritone
, though he has expressed a desire to move into the traditional register of the tenor
.
Jones's appearance as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
in 2004 brought him to the attention of a wider audience, leading to further tours and albums. It also led to increasing demands on him as a broadcaster.
He was a presenter on Classic FM
as well as on Welsh radio (BBC Radio Wales
and Radio Cymru) and television (S4C
). In 2006 he joined the BBC
, taking over from Don Maclean
on Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2
and The Choir on BBC Radio 3
. He is also a presenter of Friday Night is Music Night
, and has also been a regular stand-in presenter for Sarah Kennedy and Ken Bruce on Radio 2. Jones also presents other programmes for BBC radio such as "Choir of the Year" and "Young Chorister of the Year".
In 2005 he launched his eponymous autobiography, written in collaboration with Darren Henley.
Following the launch of his first baritone album, Aled (on the Universal Music label) in Australia in May 2003 when he went there on a promotional visit, he has since successfully toured in concert there four times: December 2003, August 2006, October 2008 and August to September 2010, performing in eight cities.
Jones has released two singles with Terry Wogan
in aid of the Children in Need
Appeal.
From 3 July until 30 August 2008 Jones played the lead role of Caractacus Potts
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
at the Wales Millennium Centre
, Cardiff. He returned to the stage, playing Bob Wallace in White Christmas
at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth
and at The Lowry
, Salford Quays
, from November 2009 until 9 January 2010.
Following the publication of Aled's Forty Favourite Hymns in 2009, a further book, Favourite Christmas Carols, was published on 28 October 2010; Jones took the book on his UK tour in November and December 2010. On 29 November, his CD Aled's Christmas Gift, was issued to accompany the book.
On 11 October 2010, it was announced that Jones would be taking over as stand-in presenter of the early morning breakfast slot on BBC Radio 2 following the departure of Sarah Kennedy
, a role which he occasionally covered in the years leading up to Kennedy's departure. Jones covered this slot for six weeks until the week of his UK tour.
, including the annual "Big Sing" and the recent 50th Anniversary edition from Alexandra Palace. He appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
in 2004 and Play It Again
in 2007. Recently Jones has presented editions of Escape to the Country
and Cash in the Attic
for BBC TV. In October 2011, he also appeared as a presenter of The One Show
.
Pier in 1995 as the lead in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aled met his future wife, Claire Fossett. The couple married in 2001, and now live in London with their two children, Emilia, born 23 February 2002 and Lucas, born 4 April 2005.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
singer and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
/radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
personality, broadcaster and television presenter (Escape to the Country and Cash in the Attic) who first came to fame as a treble
Boy soprano
A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...
(the third and highest vocal range). He is notable for presenting Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
on BBC 1, BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's, The Early Breakfast Show, Good Morning Sunday and The Choir on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. He is currently mentoring choirgirl Isabel Suckling
Isabel Suckling
Isabel Suckling is a British choirgirl who upon signing a record deal with Decca Records became the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca to date, and the first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label. Suckling sings in the choir at York Minster and was...
, the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label to date. Her debut album, greatly endorsed by Jones, who described it as "breathtaking", was released on 29 November 2010.
Biography
Jones was born in St. David's Hospital in BangorBangor, Wales
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the only child
Only child
An only child is a person with no siblings, either biological or adopted. In a family with multiple offspring, first-borns, may be briefly considered only children and have a similar early family environment, but the term only child is generally applied only to those individuals who never have...
of Nest Rowlands, a teacher, and Derek John Jones, a draughtsman for a shipbuilder. He was raised in the small Welsh-speaking community of Llandegfan
Llandegfan
Llandegfan is a village on the south of Anglesey, North Wales.The original village Hen Llandegfan was on the ancient way from the crossing of the Menai Strait at Porthaethwy via Pentraeth to Beaumaris...
, in Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
and attended Ysgol David Hughes
Ysgol David Hughes
Ysgol David Hughes is the largest Secondary School in Anglesey, Wales. It was founded in 1603, originally as a free Grammar School in Beaumaris. In 1963, with the local authority leading the way in introducing the comprehensive system, the school moved to Menai Bridge as a mixed comprehensive...
. Jones joined the choir of Bangor Cathedral
Bangor Cathedral
Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol....
at age nine and was lead soloist within two years, although he never made Head Chorister. The remarkable clarity of his treble voice was appreciated by a member of the congregation, Hefina Orwig Evans, who wrote a letter to local record company Sain, and he was duly signed. In 1982 he won the Cerdd Dant
Cerdd dant
Cerdd Dant or Canu Penillion is the art of vocal improvisation over a given melody in Welsh musical tradition. It is an important competition in eisteddfodau. The singer or choir sings a counter melody over a harp melody.Cerdd Dant is a unique tradition of singing lyrics over a harp accompaniment...
solo competitions for competitors under 12 at the Urdd Eisteddfod.
Aled Jones became famous for the cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Walking in the Air
Walking in the Air
"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film of Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book The Snowman. In the film the song was performed by St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty...
", the song from Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's 1982 animated film The Snowman
The Snowman
The Snowman is a children's book by English author Raymond Briggs, published in 1978. In 1982, this book was turned into a 26-minute animated movie by Dianne Jackson for the fledgling Channel 4. It was first shown on Channel 4 late on Christmas Eve in 1982 and was an immediate success. The film was...
, based on the book by Raymond Briggs
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
. The record reached No. 5 in the UK charts in 1985. (However, the version used in the film was not performed by Jones, but by Peter Auty
Peter Auty
Peter Auty is an English operatic tenor who has worked with most of the major opera companies in Britain and a number of companies in continental Europe.-Choirboy:...
, a St. Paul's Cathedral choirboy.)
Aled Jones also, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, was behind the Santa Claus The Movie, original motion picture soundtrack, Every Christmas Eve of 1985.
In June 1985, Jones was the subject of the Emmy award winning BBC Omnibus documentary The Treble.
His recording career was temporarily halted when his voice broke at 16. By this time he had recorded 16 albums, sold more than six million albums, and sung for Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, and the Prince
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
in a private recital, as well as presenting numerous children's television programmes. He sang at the wedding of music celebrities Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
and Paula Yates
Paula Yates
Paula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer, best known for her work on two television programmes, The Tube and The Big Breakfast.-Early life:...
in 1986. He also had the distinction of being the first artist to have two classical albums listed simultaneously in the popular music charts. He also worked with Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
(Pictures in the Dark
Pictures in the Dark
"Pictures in the Dark" is a song by Mike Oldfield released as a single mainly in Europe in 1985 . Singers on this single includes his girlfriend at the time, Anita Hegerland, Barry Palmer and well-known Welsh choirboy Aled Jones....
) and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
(Chichester Psalms
Chichester Psalms
Chichester Psalms is a choral work by Leonard Bernstein for boy treble or countertenor, solo quartet, choir and orchestra...
). In 1986 he sang the oratorio Athalia
Athalia (oratorio)
Athalia is an English-language oratorio by George Frideric Handel, his third in this genre. The structural and rhetorical achievements in Athalia project a dramatic concept that may be unique in Handel's output. Commissioned in 1733 for the Publick Act in Oxford, a commencement ceremony of the...
with Emma Kirkby
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
. His first biography, "Walking on Air", was published in 1986
Jones went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...
, before beginning his adult recording career, with a largely religious/inspirational repertoire. In 1995 he took the leading role in the long-running production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
on a Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
pier.
Jones has recorded 24 albums, many of which reached gold or platinum status in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He performs as a lyric baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, though he has expressed a desire to move into the traditional register of the tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
.
Jones's appearance as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
in 2004 brought him to the attention of a wider audience, leading to further tours and albums. It also led to increasing demands on him as a broadcaster.
He was a presenter on Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
as well as on Welsh radio (BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is the BBC's national radio station broadcasting to Wales in the English language. Operated by BBC Wales, it began broadcasting on 12 November 1978 following the demise of the old "Radio 4 Wales" when BBC Radio 4 became a national network and moved from medium wave to long wave...
and Radio Cymru) and television (S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
). In 2006 he joined the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, taking over from Don Maclean
Don Maclean
Don Maclean is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....
on Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
and The Choir on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. He is also a presenter of Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night is a long running live BBC radio concert programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, broadcast most Fridays on BBC Radio 2 at 8.00pm. It is the world's longest-running live music radio programme....
, and has also been a regular stand-in presenter for Sarah Kennedy and Ken Bruce on Radio 2. Jones also presents other programmes for BBC radio such as "Choir of the Year" and "Young Chorister of the Year".
In 2005 he launched his eponymous autobiography, written in collaboration with Darren Henley.
Following the launch of his first baritone album, Aled (on the Universal Music label) in Australia in May 2003 when he went there on a promotional visit, he has since successfully toured in concert there four times: December 2003, August 2006, October 2008 and August to September 2010, performing in eight cities.
Jones has released two singles with Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
in aid of the Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
Appeal.
From 3 July until 30 August 2008 Jones played the lead role of Caractacus Potts
Caractacus Potts
Caractacus Potts is one of the main characters in the family film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He is an eccentric inventor who lives with his twin eight-year-old children, Jeremy & Jemima, and Grandpa Potts, on the Potts' hilltop farm...
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car is a children's book written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham...
at the Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on 22 January 2009 with an inaugural concert...
, Cardiff. He returned to the stage, playing Bob Wallace in White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
The Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
and at The Lowry
The Lowry
The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex situated on Pier 8 at Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early-20th century painter, L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England...
, Salford Quays
Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...
, from November 2009 until 9 January 2010.
Following the publication of Aled's Forty Favourite Hymns in 2009, a further book, Favourite Christmas Carols, was published on 28 October 2010; Jones took the book on his UK tour in November and December 2010. On 29 November, his CD Aled's Christmas Gift, was issued to accompany the book.
On 11 October 2010, it was announced that Jones would be taking over as stand-in presenter of the early morning breakfast slot on BBC Radio 2 following the departure of Sarah Kennedy
Sarah Kennedy
Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE is a British TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her own daily early morning radio show, The Dawn Patrol, on BBC Radio 2 from 1993, before announcing her decision to leave the show on 3 September, 2010.Kennedy was honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005, when...
, a role which he occasionally covered in the years leading up to Kennedy's departure. Jones covered this slot for six weeks until the week of his UK tour.
Work on television
Jones is the main presenter of the BBC series Songs of PraiseSongs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
, including the annual "Big Sing" and the recent 50th Anniversary edition from Alexandra Palace. He appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
in 2004 and Play It Again
Play It Again
Play It Again is a documentary series on BBC One, featuring celebrities trying to learn to play musical instruments. The series is produced Diverse Production and started on 25 March 2007 and is narrated by Tamsin Greig.-1: Jo Brand, playing the organ.:...
in 2007. Recently Jones has presented editions of Escape to the Country
Escape to the Country
Escape to the Country is a daytime television programme aired on BBC Two. It is currently presented by Jules Hudson, Alistair Appleton, Nicki Chapman, Denise Nurse, Aled Jones and Jonnie Irwin. Previous presenters include Tim Vincent, Catherine Gee, Nick Page and Melissa Porter. In 2010-General...
and Cash in the Attic
Cash in the Attic
Cash in the Attic, also Cash in the Celebrity Attic, is a UK television show on the BBC. The show, made by , premièred in 2002 and has run for sixteen series; as of February 2010, the seventeenth series is currently in production, along with the fifth celebrity series...
for BBC TV. In October 2011, he also appeared as a presenter of The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
.
Personal life
While performing on BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
Pier in 1995 as the lead in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aled met his future wife, Claire Fossett. The couple married in 2001, and now live in London with their two children, Emilia, born 23 February 2002 and Lucas, born 4 April 2005.
Albums
- Diolch â Chân (1983)
- Ave Maria (1984)
- Voices from the Holy Land (1985), also on VHS
- All Through The Night (1985), UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#2 - Carols for Christmas (Christmas Album) (1985), also on DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
- Aled Jones With The BBC Welsh Chorus (1985) UK #11
- The Best of Aled Jones BBC Records (1985)
- Faure: Requiem Bernstein: Chichester Psalms (1986)
- Aled - Music from the TV Series (1986)
- Where E'er You Walk (1986) UK #36
- Pie Jesu (1986) UK #25
- An Album Of Hymns (1986) UK #18
- Handel: Athalia (1986)
- Sailing (1987)
- The Best of Aled Jones 10 Records (1987) UK #59
- The Very Best of Aled Jones (1988)
- From the Heart (2000), as baritone
- Aled (2002) UK #27
- Hear My Prayer (2003), as boy soprano
- Higher (2003) UK #21 (This included a guest track with Julian Lloyd WebberJulian Lloyd WebberJulian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
) - The Christmas Album (2004) UK #28
- A Journey With Aled Jones (2005)
- Aled (Re-issue) (2005) UK #33
- New Horizons (2005) UK #21
- You Raise Me Up-The Best of Aled JonesYou Raise Me Up-The Best of Aled JonesYou Raise Me Up: The Best of Aled Jones is a Greatest Hits album by Welsh singer Aled Jones, released on November 27, 2006.In addition to many of Jones' best-known songs, the album includes a new version of his song "Walking in the Air." Like other Jones recordings "O Holy Night" and "Dear Lord and...
(2006) - Reason To Believe (2007)
- Aled Jones - The Ultimate Collection (2009)
- Aled's Christmas Gift (2010)
Singles
- "Ave Maria" (1985)
- "Memory" (1985) UK #42
- "Too Young to Know" (1985)
- "Walking in the AirWalking in the Air"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film of Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book The Snowman. In the film the song was performed by St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty...
" (1985) UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#5 - "Pictures in the DarkPictures in the Dark"Pictures in the Dark" is a song by Mike Oldfield released as a single mainly in Europe in 1985 . Singers on this single includes his girlfriend at the time, Anita Hegerland, Barry Palmer and well-known Welsh choirboy Aled Jones....
" (with Mike OldfieldMike OldfieldMichael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
) (1985) UK #50 - "Morning Has BrokenMorning Has Broken"Morning Has Broken" is a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan" . It is often sung in children's services...
" (1986) - "A Winter Story" (1986) UK #51
- "I'm in This Over My Head" (1998)
- "Some Kind of WonderfulSome Kind of WonderfulSome Kind of Wonderful is a 1987 romance film starring Eric Stoltz, Lea Thompson, and Mary Stuart Masterson. It was one of the many successful teen dramas written by John Hughes in the 1980s, although this one was directed by Howard Deutch. During filming, Deutch met Thompson and two years later...
" (duet with Cerys MatthewsCerys MatthewsCerys Elizabeth Matthews is a Welsh singer and songwriter. She is known as the lead singer of the Welsh rock band Catatonia, her more recent bilingual solo career, and for a 1998 Christmas duet with Tom Jones.-Biography:...
) (10 October 2007) - "Little Drummer BoyLittle Drummer Boy"The Little Drummer Boy," originally known as "Carol of the Drum," is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer/teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. It was recorded 1955 by the Trapp Family Singers and further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry...
" (with Terry WoganTerry WoganSir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
) (2008) UK #3 - "Silver Bells" (with Terry Wogan) (2009)
Talking books
- The Story of Classical Music (2004)
- Famous Composers (2005)
- The Story of Jesus (2006)
VHS
- Aled Jones - New Born King - A Festival Of Carols From London's Westminster Cathedral (1992)
- Voices From The Holy Land (1985)
- Aled Jones - Carols For Christmas
DVDs
- The Little Prince featuring Aled Jones (2004)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Carols for Christmas (2004)
- Aled Jones - Christmas Carols (2008)
External links
- Aled Jones's official website
- The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory A full album discography with track listings
- Aled Jones on BBC Radio 2
- Aled Jones biography on BBC Wales
- The Unofficial Aled Jones Fanclub on Yahoo Groups
- Aled Jones on Play it Again
- Aled Jones section on ClassicalX
- Interview with Aled at Premier.tv
- Official Record Label Website
- C Music TV Profile
- Locatetv.vom