Aled Jones, MBE (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer, radio and television presenter, and actor.[1] As a teenage chorister, he gained widespread fame in 1985 with his recording of "Walking in the Air", which reached No 5 in the UK pop chart. He has since worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and on radio for the BBC and Classic FM.
Jones was born in St. David's Hospital in Bangor, Caernarfonshire, the only child of Nest Rowlands, a teacher, and Derek John Jones, a draughtsman for a shipbuilder.[3] He was raised in the small Welsh-speaking community of Llandegfan on Anglesey, and attended Ysgol David Hughes (a secondary school). Jones joined the choir of Bangor Cathedral at age nine and was lead soloist within two years, although he was never Head Chorister. The remarkable quality of Jones' treble voice was appreciated by a member of the congregation, Hefina Orwig Evans, who wrote a letter to record company Sain, and he was duly signed. In 1982, Jones won the Cerdd Dant solo competitions for competitors under 12 at the UrddEisteddfod.
In 2005, Jones launched his autobiography, Aled: The Autobiography, written in collaboration with Darren Henley. In 2013, Jones released his extended autobiography, Aled Jones: My Story.
Following the launch of his first baritone album, Aled on the Universal Music label in Australia in May 2003, Jones visited the country on a promotional tour. He has since successfully toured in concert there five times: in Dec 2003, Aug 2006, Oct 2008, Aug/Sep 2010 and Feb 2015, performing in eight cities.
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, Jones was confirmed to take over as stand-in presenter of the early morning breakfast slot on BBC Radio 2 following the departure of Sarah Kennedy, a role he occasionally covered in the years leading up to her departure. Jones covered this slot for six weeks until the beginning of his UK tour.
Jones is mentoring Isabel Suckling, the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca Records and first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label. Suckling's debut album was strongly endorsed by Jones, who described it as "breathtaking" and it was released on 29 November 2010.[11][12][13][14]
In 2011, Jones hosted the television and DVD series, Classical Destinations III, Aled Jones' Ultimate Travel Guide to Classical Music which was filmed on his travels in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and Australia.
On 9 November 2018, Jones released In Harmony, a collaboration album with English tenorRussell Watson.[15] They followed on 1 November 2019 with Back in Harmony, which debuted at number 1 on the UK Classical Albums chart.[16]
On 4 November 2022, Jones and Watson released the album Christmas with Aled and Russell.[17] The album debuted at number 1 on the Classical Artists Albums Chart[18][19] and number 14 on the main albums chart.[20] The album was preceded by two singles; the first, "A Spaceman Came Travelling", was released on 21 October 2022.[21] The second single, "O Holy Night", was released on 4 November 2022.[22] The duo toured the UK in November and December 2022.[23][24]
Broadcasting
Radio
Jones is a presenter on Classic FM. In 2006 he joined the BBC, taking over from Don Maclean on Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2. He was 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, until he left Radio 2 in 2012. Jones also presents programmes for BBC Radio 3, such as Choir of the Year and Young Chorister of the Year and The Choir until he left Radio 3 in 2013. On 4 February 2013 it was announced that Jones had returned to Classic FM to present a new show from 9:00–12:00 on Sundays, starting on 3 March of the same year. From March 2016, his breakfast show was moved down to two hours, to 7:00–10:00 (but staying on Sundays). His show reaches over a million listeners, which is a record number for weekend breakfast listenership, alongside the Saturday show at the same slot with Alan Titchmarsh.
As a teenager Jones presented Chatterbox, a children's chat show made by HTV for ITV, in 1988.
Jones' 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.
Jones is one of the main presenters of BBC One's Songs of Praise. In 2003, he was the subject of the final episode of This Is Your Life when he was surprised by Michael Aspel while presenting Songs of Praise at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[25] He has also presented the annual "Big Sing", the 50th Anniversary edition from Alexandra Palace in 2011, and the 60th Anniversary edition from Westminster Abbey (3/10/21). Since 2009, Jones has presented editions of Escape to the Country for the BBC. He was also a presenter on Cash in the Attic between 2010 and 2012. In October 2011, he appeared as a guest presenter on The One Show. In 2012, Jones hosted the Australian TV series Classical Destinations III, Aled Jones' Ultimate Travel Guide to Classical Music.
On 4 May 2012, Jones was confirmed as the new presenter of the ITV Breakfast programme Daybreak with Lorraine Kelly and Kate Garraway, replacing Adrian Chiles.[26] On 3 March 2014, it was announced that Daybreak was to be replaced by a new breakfast programme called Good Morning Britain, which Jones would not be a part of. His last episode aired on 25 April 2014. The following day, Jones began hosting Weekend, broadcast every Saturday and Sunday morning from 8:30am.[27][28]
Since 2012, Jones has presented the annual Christmas Carols on ITV programme, which airs late on Christmas Eve. In 2015, he was a regular reporter for Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, broadcast on BBC Two.
Since February 2016, Jones has co-presented the daily magazine show Too Much TV, for BBC Two.[29]
Since 2016, Jones has presented Going Back Giving Back, a daytime programme for BBC One.
Jones has been on the judging panel for the Pride of Britain awards twice.
In November 2017, Jones was being investigated by the BBC following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. In the interim, he had agreed to withdraw from programmes.[31] It was subsequently confirmed in January 2018 that the BBC had lifted the suspension and that he would resume presenting programmes.[32]
Awards and honours
On 28 October 2009, Jones was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of his unique contribution to music.[33]
Myleene Angela Klass is an English musician, singer, television presenter and model. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass has been a television and radio presenter. She has hosted television series including Popstar to Operastar (2010–2011) and BBQ Champ (2015) on ITV and The One Show (2007) on BBC One. She was a regular panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women in 2014 and again from 2024 onwards. In 2006, Klass was runner-up on the sixth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and returned in 2023 for the "all-stars" series I'm a Celebrity... South Africa, which she won.
Classic FM is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations and is owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment (Global). The station broadcasts classical music and was launched in 1992.
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show Pointless, and is a weekday morning-show presenter on Classic FM.
Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Currently, Garraway is the presenter of Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway on Smooth Radio and newsreader and co-anchor of the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain.
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs.
"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film The Snowman based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 children's book of the same name. The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal favourite on British and Finnish television. The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. "Walking in the Air" is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy seems to be the only human until they meet Santa Claus with his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern. In the film, the song was performed by St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty; this performance was reissued in 1985 and 1987.
Gethin Clifford Jones is a Welsh television presenter. He was an active rugby union player while at Manchester Metropolitan University and, after graduation, he began his television career on Welsh language channel S4C as a presenter of children's programmes such as Popty, Mas Draw and the flagship children's entertainment show Uned 5.
Laura Elizabeth Tobin FRMS is an English broadcast meteorologist and Scientist. She worked for the BBC before moving to the ITV Breakfast programme Daybreak in 2012. Daybreak was later replaced by Good Morning Britain in early 2014. Tobin currently presents the weather bulletins for the programme.
Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard is an English television presenter and journalist. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's This Morning (2024–present), alongside Cat Deeley.
ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited is the national ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009.
Charlotte Mary Hawkins is a British television and radio presenter, newsreader and journalist.
Ranvir Singh is a British journalist and television presenter. She is a newsreader and presenter for Good Morning Britain, presenter of Riddiculous and a relief presenter of Lorraine.
Daybreak is a British breakfast television programme that was broadcast on ITV from 6 September 2010 to 25 April 2014. Daybreak replaced GMTV, which aired its last weekday edition on 3 September 2010. Daybreak launched three days later.
Isabel Suckling is a British singer who was the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca Records, and the first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label. Suckling sang in the choir at York Minster at the time, and was discovered by Decca following a nationwide search. She was mentored by the singer, TV/radio presenter and former boy soprano Aled Jones.
This is a list of events in British radio during 2013.
One Voice is a 2016 classical music album by Welsh singer Aled Jones and produced by Classic FM. The album features classical and folk songs performed by Jones as a duet with recordings of himself that were made when he was 15 years old. Upon release the album went straight into number 1 on the British Classical Artist Albums Chart and reached number 3 on the UK Album Charts.
One Voice at Christmas is a 2016 Christmas album by the Welsh singer Aled Jones and produced by Classic FM. It was created as a follow-up to Jones' One Voice album released earlier in the year and followed a similar style with Jones duetting on Christmas carols and songs with his younger self. It reached a peak of 22 in the official UK Album Charts and number 1 in the UK Classical Chart.
A timeline of notable events relating to Classic FM, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1992.
A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 3, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.
This is a timeline of the history of breakfast television in the United Kingdom.
↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p.160. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
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