Howard Jones | |
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.jpg) Jones performing live at Let's Rock Liverpool on 31 July 2021 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | John Howard Jones (1955-02-23)23 February 1955 (age 70) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | www |
John Howard Jones (born 23 February 1955)[1] is a British singer, musician and songwriter. He had ten top 40 hit singles in the UK between 1983 and 1986, six of which reached the top ten, including "Like to Get to Know You Well" , "What Is Love?", "New Song", and "Things Can Only Get Better". His 1984 albumHuman's Lib reached number one on theUK Albums Chart. Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992. The 1986 hit single "No One Is to Blame" reached No. 4 on the US charts. Four others placed in the US top 20.
Jones is associated with the 1980sSecond British Invasion of the US.[3][4] He has been described by theAllMusic editorStephen Thomas Erlewine as "one of the defining figures of mid-'80ssynth-pop",[1] and he performed atLive Aid in 1985.[5] He has sold over eight million albums.[6]
John Howard Jones was born in Hythe, Hampshire, to Welsh parents and spent his early years inRhiwbina,Cardiff,South Wales, where he attended Heol Llanishen Fach primary school and thenWhitchurch Grammar School.[7] Jones is the eldest of four boys. His brothers, Roy, Martin, and Paul, are all musicians in their own right.[8] Jones began taking piano lessons at age seven.[8] He later attended theRoyal Grammar School inHigh Wycombe,Buckinghamshire.[9]
The family moved toCanada twice, the first time when Jones was nine, settling inNepean, a suburb ofOttawa. There, he joined his first band, widely misidentified as Warrior – aprogressive/classic rock band that Jones founded in 1971 and played with until 1972, this after having returned permanently to England.[10][11]
Jones attended theRoyal Northern College of Music inManchester in the mid-1970s while playing in various bands.[1] He left the college after two-and-a-half years of a three-year course because he did not want to be aclassical pianist.[6] He met Buddhist practitioner Bill Bryant, who wrote lyrics for some of Jones's songs and was a major influence in this period.[12] The Jones brothers (minus Howard) had a band called Red Beat in the late 1970s.[13]
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Jones appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before invitingmime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as Jones played behind him.[14] In 1983, he hired theMarquee Club in London and invitedrecord labels to come and see him perform.[15] After aBBC Radio 1 session, Jones obtained support slots withChina Crisis andOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) before signing toWarner, then called WEA, in mid-1983.[1] He has cited influences such as OMD (whose song "Enola Gay" was covered by Jones in early live sets),Keith Emerson andStevie Wonder.[16]
Jones' firstsingle, "New Song", was released in September 1983. It reached the top 30 in the US and thetop 5 in the UK.[5] He made his debut performance onBBC Television'sTop of the Pops on 22 September 1983. He had four morehits over the next twelve months and a UK number one album,Human's Lib, which eventually went double platinum. Bill Bryant was credited with jointly writing the lyrics for six songs on the album.[5] "New Song", "What Is Love?", and "Pearl in the Shell" all did well during 1983 and 1984.[1]Human's Lib was certifiedgold andplatinum in several countries. Jones had developed a loyal teen following. His parents ran his fan club.[14][17]
In the summer of 1984, Jones released "Like to Get to Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of theOlympic Games.' Although it was not an officialOlympic anthem forthe Games in Los Angeles that summer, it was a worldwide hit. It reached No. 4 on theUK singles chart.[5] The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages while Jones sang the title line in French and German on the extended 12″ version. The song also appeared in the filmBetter Off Dead (1985) and thevideo gameGrand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006).[17]
In February 1985, Jones appeared withStevie Wonder,Herbie Hancock andThomas Dolby at the 27thGrammy Awards ceremony; the group performed a medley of material from all four artists.[18]
Jones' second LP was aremix album.[17] It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multilingual version of "Like to Get to Know You Well".[17] The album was certified gold in the UK.[17]
In 1985, Jones released his second studio album,Dream into Action,[1] which included backup work by the trioAfrodiziak.[17] Afrodiziak includedCaron Wheeler andClaudia Fontaine.[17] His brother Martin played bass guitar.[17] He had to have an extra string added to hisinstrument to play some of the bass lines, which had originally been scored for keyboard. One of the album's tracks, "No One Is to Blame", was later re-recorded, featuringPhil Collins as drummer and producer, and performing backing vocals. (This second version appears on Jones's U.S. EPAction Replay, and also as a bonus track on the CD version of the following LPOne to One).Dream into Action was Jones's most successful album and popular worldwide; it reached number two in the UK and number 10 in the US, and remained on the US chart for almost a year.[1][14] The singles "Life in One Day", "Things Can Only Get Better", and "Look Mama" appeared on this album.[1] In July 1985, Jones performed atWembley Stadium as part of theLive Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide and Seek" and playing piano.[17] He also embarked on a world tour.[17]
TheEPAction Replay was released in 1986. It included the re-recorded version of "No One Is to Blame".[1] The song was Jones's biggest US hit, reaching number 4 on the chart.[1] By this time, his fortunes were changing in his native UK, and "No One Is to Blame" peaked at number 16. His next single, "All I Want", peaked at number 35, and would be his last UK top 40 hit. Jones released his third studio album,One to One, in October 1986, which peaked at number 10 in the UK and would be his last UK hit album, despite achieving gold sales status.[1][5] In the US, Jones continued to fill large arenas, and the single "You Know I Love You... Don't You?" reached the top twenty on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1986.[citation needed]
In June 1988, Jones performed atAmnesty International'sFestival of Youth at theMilton Keynes Bowl.[19] Jones's subsequent album,Cross That Line (1989), performed poorly in the UK,[14] but the 1989 singles "Everlasting Love" (his second USAdult Contemporary number 1 hit after "No One Is to Blame") and "The Prisoner" charted in the US. Jones continued to play large venues in the US during the late 1980s, and the Cross That Line Tour played major outdoor venues in the US in 1989.[citation needed]
Jones contributed to theOne World One Voice album as part of the One World collaborative, which peaked at number 27 in the UK album charts in 1990.
Jones's 1992 albumIn the Running failed to chart in the UK until a remastered version hit the top 100 sales chart in 2021,[14] but the single "Lift Me Up" (1992) charted in the US top 40 and the UK Network Chart top 40 in 1992.
With his 10-year tenure on the Warner Music label at an end, a greatest-hits compilationThe Best of Howard Jones was released in 1993. The album peaked at number 36 in the UK, and by 2005 (12 years after its release) it was certified silver by theBPI for over 60,000 copies sold in the UK.[citation needed]
Jones had success as a songwriter for other artists in the early 1990s. He co-wrote the dance-music hits "Heaven Give Me Words" and "Your Wildlife" with the members ofPropaganda. The tracks appeared on the 1990 album1234; "Heaven Give Me Words" reached number 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart and "Your Wildlife" reached number 22 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[20][21]
After Jones' contract with WMG expired, he concentrated on production, songwriting, and running a restaurant.[17] He started his own record label, Dtox, releasing a number of albums through the label, such asWorking in the Backroom, produced in his own recording studio ('The Shed'). The album, which sold over 20,000 copies in the first year of release, was made available only atconcerts and through his officialwebsite.[1][14]
Jones toured the US and Europe over the next couple of years.Live Acoustic America came out in 1996 andPeople in 1998.[1]
In 2001, Jones played keyboards on theRingo Starr & His All-Starr Band tour.[17]
On 20 September 2003, Jones played a 20th anniversary concert at theShepherd's Bush Empire, London, commemorating the release of his first single. He was joined byMidge Ure andNena, as well as his mime artist, Jed Hoile. A recording of this concert was later released on DVD.[citation needed] Jones continued to tour and write new music, collaborating with Robbie Bronnimann to co-write and co-produce music forSugababes, and Jones' own 2005 albumRevolution of the Heart.[1] He toured playing gigs in the United States, Italy, Germany and Sweden and played a number of times at theEdinburgh Festival in 2006.[22] The same year Jones provided a vocal for the song "Into the Dark" byFerry Corsten for the latter's album,L.E.F. Jones was also featured on Katrina Carlson'scover of "No One Is to Blame", which entered the USHot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2007.[citation needed]
In October 2006, Jones released "Building Our Own Future" as apodsafe track, as one of several established artists looking to usepodcasts as a new means of promoting their music and tours.[23] The song debuted at number 1 on the PMC Top10 on 29 October 2006 and spent four weeks at the top of the chart. Jones' track "Revolution of the Heart" spent five weeks at number 1 on the PMC Top10 during 2007 and finished the year as the number 2[24] song in their annual countdown.
Jones embarked on an acoustic tour of Australia in 2007, beginning in Brisbane and concluding on 5 April in Perth.[25] TheRevolution Remixed & Surrounded album was followed in November byLive in Birkenhead. Jones performed another acoustic set, with other 1980s acts at the Retrofest, on 1 September 2007 atCulzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland.[26]
Jones is a member ofSōka Gakkai International, and is musical director of one of its choirs, the Glorious Life Chorus. The chorus performs some of his songs in its repertoire, including "Building Our Own Future" and "Respected". He returned to Australia again in 2009, this time accompanied by vocalist Laura Clapp and music technologist Robbie Bronnimann. On 26 February 2009, Jones was at the UK premiere ofRoland's new V-Piano inBristol, and performed "Hide and Seek".[27] He continues to tour, and played the 'Big Hair Affair 2009' on 1 August 2009 at the Ryedale Arena,Pickering,North Yorkshire.[28]
Ordinary Heroes was released in November 2009,[29][30] and he toured London, Cardiff and Manchester with a string section and theMorriston Orpheus Choir (inSt David's Hall inCardiff).[citation needed] During an interview with theStuck in the '80s podcast after the album's release, Jones said "Soon You'll Go" was inspired by his daughter's upcoming departure to university, but that the song has come to take on broader meaning about cherishing the time he has with people.[31]
Jones is a member of the board of directors for theFeatured Artists Coalition, which was founded in 2009.[32]
On 29 November 2011, a UK tour was announced.Human's Lib andDream Into Action were performed in April 2012 across eight venues. A weekly radio series coincided with tour calledElectronic 80s with Howard Jones onAbsolute Radio.[citation needed]
In 2012, he appeared on "The Song That Changed My Life" on BYUtv, the cable station forBrigham Young University.[33]
In 2015, the release ofEngage was made on Jones' own D-TOX Records.[citation needed]
In 2016, he went out on tour supportingBarenaked Ladies as an opening act for their Last Summer on Earth US tour, reuniting with OMD.[34]
In 2018, Jones joined fellow musicianSteve Hogarth ofMarillion by being present at the unveiling of a sculpture in tribute toDavid Bowie inAylesbury,Buckinghamshire.[35]
Transform was released on 10 May, 2019. It features three collaborations with electronic musicianBT.[36] It is the second electronic album in a set of four, the first beingEngage. In 2022 the third album was released,Dialogue consisting of eight songs.[citation needed]
Piano Composed was released on 23 May, 2025 in two different versions, one on vinyl and one on CD. This is Jones' third piano-based album. He composed and refined ten piano pieces during lockdown (from an original 15-20 pieces), which was released asPiano Composed Ivory on vinyl. Inspired by a session with aSteinway Spirio, he reimagined the tracks using its advanced capabilities (creating complex, unplayable arrangements) which was released asPiano Composed Spirio on CD, showcasing two distinct interpretations of the same compositions.[37]
Jones has spoken of the media's negative perception of him. In 2006, he said: "My songs are not about drug-taking or debauchery or rock and roll. They're about positive thinking and challenging people's ideas. I wasn't fashionable. I never got good reviews. But I'm proud of the fact that I wasn't liked by the media ... Pop music is so reactionary and bigoted. And I found that what's 'cool' is often very shallow and transient."[22]
Jones is married to Jan Smith.[38] They have three children: Osheen, Mica and Jasper.[39] In the late 1980s, Jones began practisingNichiren Buddhism as a member of the worldwide Buddhist associationSoka Gakkai International; he has credited his daily practice of chanting "Nam myoho renge kyo" (I devote myself to theLotus Sutra) since 1991 as "having a profoundly positive effect on my life."[40]
As of 2006, Jones resided inCreech St Michael, nearTaunton,Somerset.[41] Jones was a vegetarian for 42 years and became a vegan in 2019.[42][43]
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