You can’t get much more pop starry than singing at the wedding of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. But only in record sales could Aled Jones ever be mentioned among the show business elite.
“I was 15 when I performed at Bob and Paula’s wedding,” recalled Aled, now 45. “It’s amazing to realise it was so long ago. The ceremony was in Las Vegas. Bob and Paula were like show business royalty at the time.
“Bob had been very successful with The Boomtown Rats, became the driving force behind the Band Aid charity and was awarded an honorary knighthood for his charitable work. Paula did all kinds of things from journalism to television presenting and even making records.
“Not many people know Paula was Welsh like me. She was born in Colwyn Bay which is not too far from my birthplace of Bangor. I did wonder if Paula’s Welsh upbringing gave her an ear for my singing. But Bob was apparently just as big a fan. Whatever though, singing at their wedding was a very exciting gig for me.”
Aled had sprung to fame a year earlier when his version of Walking in the Air reached number five on the UK singles chart.
“Most people who know the song will have probably heard it in the animated television film of Raymond Briggs’ children’s book, The Snowman. I’ve always felt just a little guilty about having so much success with Walking in the Air. It quickly became so associated with me that no-one seemed to realise it wasn’t my voice they heard on the film soundtrack.
“It was sung by the operatic tenor Peter Auty when he was a 13-year-old choirboy at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Peter’s voice had broken by the time Toys ‘R’ Us wanted to build an advertising campaign around a slightly altered version of the song. I was recommended to record the new version by the song’s writer, Howard Blake, and that’s what became such a massive hit.”
Although Walking in the Air unquestionably set Aled on the road to stardom, he was no stranger to the pop charts. Earlier in 1985, he had a hit single with Memory, Trevor Nunn and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Ivor Novello Award-winning song from the stage musical, “Cats.”
“I’d sung in the choir at Bangor Cathedral since I was nine and was lead soloist at 11. A local record company were interested in me and I made my first album, a Welsh language record, in 1983.
“Everything really took off from the success of Walking in the Air. I sung for Pope John Paul II and members of the British royal family. I recorded with Mike Oldfield, sung operatic works, got into presenting children’s television programmes and even had the BBC make an Emmy-winning documentary about me. I also made so many albums. This was done to get as many songs as possible recorded before my voice broke.”
The breaking of his voice brought a temporary halt to Aled’s singing career. He used this time to move into acting and study at the Royal Academy of Music. His adult career has seen him perform in stage musicals and straight plays, present numerous television and radio programmes and write three volumes of autobiography plus other literary output.
He has also continued to sell millions of records. His latest album, “One Voice,” has so far peaked at number four on the UK chart.
“I consider myself very fortunate to have enjoyed such a long and diverse career. I’ve loved all the different things I’ve been able to do. But singing has always been the core area of my career. I can’t imagine what I would do if something serious happened to my vocal cords and I could never sing again.”
Should such an event ever come to pass, what Aled would do is gain strength and support from his wife Claire and their two children, Emilia and Lucas.
“They are without doubt the best things which have ever happened to me. I can’t put into words how much I love them. It’s sometimes seen as strange that I never live the show business lifestyle. Why would I ever want to when I can stay at home with the people who mean the world to me.”
in
brief
The Lumineers
It doesn’t necessarily hurt to be supposedly unfashionable. The millions of records sold by Aled Jones is ample testimony to that statement. So too are the US and UK chart-topping debuts for “Cleopatra,” the sophomore album from American indie-folk band The Lumineers.
“It’s pretty shocking,” admitted singer and multi-instrumentalist Wesley Schultz. “I think a lot of people in the business were surprised by the success we had with our debut album. So were we, indie-folk records just didn’t sell in those kind of numbers.
“I think the expectation was that our success was just a musical fad at that time. We feared the same kind of thing, particularly as we’ve taken four years to create the songs on ‘Cleopatra.’
“But our fans didn’t forget us. Their response to the new album is way beyond anything we could have hoped for. To be number one in America and Britain in the first week of release, this is truly special and we are very grateful.”
“Cleopatra” can be heard in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbWenUU7V2k
The Kills
Fresh from their critically acclaimed performance at California’s Coachella Festival, American/British indie-rock duo The Kills have revealed the video for their latest single, Heart of a Dog.
It is the second track taken from singer Alison Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince’s forthcoming fifth studio album, “Ash & Ice,” which is scheduled for release on June 3.
The video for lead single, Doing it to Death, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=498zUzNGQxY
The Heart of a Dog promo is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=urPxe4jxdt8
Numerous other song videos from The Kills are posted on YouTube. So too are their previous four albums. “Keep On Your Mean Side,” “No Wow,” “Midnight Boom” and “Blood Pressures” can all be heard in full.
Camryn
Camryn Magness doesn’t use her family name. But the 16-year-old native of Denver, Colorado, employs everything else in her locker to search for pop stardom.
A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, she has been active in the business since 2008. Camryn first found a degree of fame through a series of song videos she posted on YouTube in 2010. These earned her a US concert tour alongside two other talented child stars, Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance.
More collective and solo tours would follow before Camryn struck gold. She landed a support slot on the US leg of One Direction’s “Up All Night” tour in 2012 and re-joined the boys for their European concerts in 2013.
She was releasing singles during this period but little has been heard from her in more recent times. Camryn is back now though with her latest single, Machines. The official video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGuRTBrQU7M
More song promos, live performances and behind-the-scenes pieces can be found at www.youtube.com/user/Camrynrocks/videos
Gwen Stefani
We may only be one third of the way through 2016 but it has already been a big year for Gwen Stefani.
The No Doubt singer earned her first Billboard 200 chart-topping solo album with “This Is What The Truth Feels Like.” She begins a US concert tour on July 12 and is to be honoured this Saturday at the Radio Disney Music Awards. Gwen will receive the Hero Award during a ceremony at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.
After the sorrow caused by the end of her 13-year marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, Gwen has now found new love with country star Blake Shelton. They have recorded a song together. Go Ahead and Break My Heart features on Blake’s forthcoming tenth studio album, “If I’m Honest,” which is released on May 20.
A lyric video for Misery, Gwen’s newly issued single, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7WvgNdMyDQ
Aled says his wife Claire and their two children Emilia and Lucas are the best thing that has happened to him.
