Aled Jones(I)
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Aled Jones was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, by caesarean section on
December 29th 1970. His mother, Nest, was a primary school teacher, his
father, Derek, an engineer. He is an only child, and was raised in the
tiny village of Llandegfan on the island of Anglesey. Until the age of
almost five, he spoke no English whatsoever, speaking Welsh at home
with his parents and only learning English as a second language when he
started school. Even so, for the first few years, he was educated only
in Welsh (even in English lessons), and almost entirely in Welsh for
the rest of his school time.
Always a musical child, he showed his
remarkable musicality at an early age, singing in various competitions
and Eisteddfodau (a common Welsh cultural competition where children
and adults compete in various types of performance, including
accompanied and unaccompanied singing, recital of poems and dancing)
and winning many prizes. At the age of nine, while auditioning for
piano lessons with the Master of the Choristers at Bangor Cathedral
Choir, Andrew Goodwin, it was suggested that he had a good enough
singing voice to make the choir if he wished to do so. Upon
consultation with his parents, he decided to join the Bangor Cathedral
Choir, and very soon was promoted to lead soloist, singing the majority
of solo work within the choir.
In 1983, a lady from the congregation of
the Cathedral, after hearing him sing the solo treble in the cantata
'Hear my Prayer', wrote a letter to the local Welsh language record
company, suggesting that it would be a tragedy for his voice to break
with no record of it, and would they be interested in making a
recording of him? The record company, Sain, approached Aled with the
offer of a record deal, and his first album, 'Diolch a Chan' was
released that same year. Following a good reception, many further
albums were made, including 'Ave Maria', 'Voices from the Holy Land'
(music from a series of television programs he made for the BBC), 'All
Through the Night', 'Christmas Album', 'Pie Jesu', and various
compilation albums.
His real breakthrough to international fame came
during 1985, when he released a cover version of Raymond Briggs'
'Walking in the Air', which subsequently became a hit and a perennial
Christmas favourite, even allowing him a performance on Top of the
Pops. Renowned not just as one of the most superb boy sopranos of all
time, but a natural musician and a modest, charming boy, Aled's unique
and amazing voice brought him attention from all corners of the world,
multiple television appearances and contact with a myriad of famous
faces, including Princess Diana, Bob Geldorf and Richard Branson, to
name just a few.
After his voice broke at the age of sixteen, Aled went
on to study voice at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by drama at
the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played several theatre roles,
including Joseph in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'
before, in 2000, he was approached by the BBC, who invited him to
become a presenter on the popular religious show 'Songs of Praise'. He
accepted, and is still presenting the show today.
Songs of Praise also
marked the beginning of a new era for Aled, with the launching of his
new adult voice for the first time in public. Due to the demand of the
public, he found himself singing more and more songs on the series, and
this eventually lead to him releasing 'Aled', his first real album with
his new, mature baritone voice. Since then, he has released more
albums, among them 'Higher' and 'The Christmas Album', and has received
much acclaim as one of the most gifted and naturally musical singers in
the world. He continues to be known, not just for his magnificent
voice, but for his natural warmth, humour, modesty and charm, which
have all earned him a host of loyal fans and respectful
colleagues.
December 29th 1970. His mother, Nest, was a primary school teacher, his
father, Derek, an engineer. He is an only child, and was raised in the
tiny village of Llandegfan on the island of Anglesey. Until the age of
almost five, he spoke no English whatsoever, speaking Welsh at home
with his parents and only learning English as a second language when he
started school. Even so, for the first few years, he was educated only
in Welsh (even in English lessons), and almost entirely in Welsh for
the rest of his school time.
Always a musical child, he showed his
remarkable musicality at an early age, singing in various competitions
and Eisteddfodau (a common Welsh cultural competition where children
and adults compete in various types of performance, including
accompanied and unaccompanied singing, recital of poems and dancing)
and winning many prizes. At the age of nine, while auditioning for
piano lessons with the Master of the Choristers at Bangor Cathedral
Choir, Andrew Goodwin, it was suggested that he had a good enough
singing voice to make the choir if he wished to do so. Upon
consultation with his parents, he decided to join the Bangor Cathedral
Choir, and very soon was promoted to lead soloist, singing the majority
of solo work within the choir.
In 1983, a lady from the congregation of
the Cathedral, after hearing him sing the solo treble in the cantata
'Hear my Prayer', wrote a letter to the local Welsh language record
company, suggesting that it would be a tragedy for his voice to break
with no record of it, and would they be interested in making a
recording of him? The record company, Sain, approached Aled with the
offer of a record deal, and his first album, 'Diolch a Chan' was
released that same year. Following a good reception, many further
albums were made, including 'Ave Maria', 'Voices from the Holy Land'
(music from a series of television programs he made for the BBC), 'All
Through the Night', 'Christmas Album', 'Pie Jesu', and various
compilation albums.
His real breakthrough to international fame came
during 1985, when he released a cover version of Raymond Briggs'
'Walking in the Air', which subsequently became a hit and a perennial
Christmas favourite, even allowing him a performance on Top of the
Pops. Renowned not just as one of the most superb boy sopranos of all
time, but a natural musician and a modest, charming boy, Aled's unique
and amazing voice brought him attention from all corners of the world,
multiple television appearances and contact with a myriad of famous
faces, including Princess Diana, Bob Geldorf and Richard Branson, to
name just a few.
After his voice broke at the age of sixteen, Aled went
on to study voice at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by drama at
the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He played several theatre roles,
including Joseph in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'
before, in 2000, he was approached by the BBC, who invited him to
become a presenter on the popular religious show 'Songs of Praise'. He
accepted, and is still presenting the show today.
Songs of Praise also
marked the beginning of a new era for Aled, with the launching of his
new adult voice for the first time in public. Due to the demand of the
public, he found himself singing more and more songs on the series, and
this eventually lead to him releasing 'Aled', his first real album with
his new, mature baritone voice. Since then, he has released more
albums, among them 'Higher' and 'The Christmas Album', and has received
much acclaim as one of the most gifted and naturally musical singers in
the world. He continues to be known, not just for his magnificent
voice, but for his natural warmth, humour, modesty and charm, which
have all earned him a host of loyal fans and respectful
colleagues.