Famed Welsh chorister Aled Jones speaks to Ruadhán Jones about faith, Christmas and his new album
With his features still youthful and boyish, it’s not hard to link Aled Jones as he is today with the fresh-faced 15-year-old who shot to fame for his performance of Walking in the Air. A cover of a song from the animated short, The Snowman, Aled’s version went to number 5 in the charts in 1985.
He jokes with me that “some would say I haven’t really progressed that much in my career because I’m singing the same music now as I was when I was 11! But, you know, that’s testament to the tunes.” Now heading into his 50s, Aled has been performing professionally for 35 years, but he continues to perform around the world, as well as working on programs such as Songs of Praise on BBC.
He has recently released a new book, Everyday Blessings and an album simply called Blessings. The book and album draw together wisdom from different faiths and from Aled’s own personal experience.
Speaking about the book and album, Aled says he recorded them hoping “that people will enjoy them and take them to heart”.
“It’s been a very trying time for the whole world,” he says. “It’s been a time where we’ve all had to stop our normal lives and in a way take stock. The album is in no way a product of lockdown because the idea for it came long before.
“But the book I suppose is because I don’t think I would have finished it if it hadn’t been for lockdown and spending time at home doing nothing, really. I just found myself going to these words, you know some making me smile, some hitting my soul, some going deep into my heart, some spurring me on.
“Everything seems to have worked out well, that it’s broken up into sections and the blessings fit within those sections. They’re not all religious blessings, some are. But I couldn’t not have the Irish blessing, for instance it’s what I sing all the time and it’s actually on the album as well.
“I hope for people when they read them, if somebody turns to that day’s blessing, that it gives them something for the whole day, you know, spurs them on.”
Aled’s new album Blessings, draws from a wide range of faith backgrounds, including Catholic, Quaker and Muslim. Being able to explore each faith through the songs confirmed in his mind the fundamental qualities of all faiths: kindness and love.
“We’re brought into this world not wanting to hate, not wanting to injure, not wanting to hurt and I think that’s at the heart of every faith,” he says. ”So, you know, being able to sing a Christmas hymn with Sammy Yousuf performing a Muslim song was such a great experience. So was having Judi Dench on a Quaker hymn and singing a Jehovah’s Witness piece.
“But the thing that I most loved more than anything was that the feeling I get when I sing my religious music, I was getting from these other faiths as well, which is interesting in a way.”
Early life
Aled’s life has always been centred around singing – through this, it has also been centred around faith.
“I’ve always felt the connection [to faith] through the music, so even though I don’t go to church now on a set date, I film in them all the time and whenever I do come to a church or I’m on tour my musical director and I will always go to an evensong or something like that. It just restores the spirit I suppose,” he tells me.
From a young age, the two went hand-in-hand. He began his fledgling career as a member of the cathedral choir in Bangor Cathedral in Wales, at the age of nine. Within two years he was lead soloist, and the rigorous schedule meant that he spent many hours performing at services in the Cathedral. Through that, faith came to hold a central role in his childhood.
“I went to Sunday school when I was a very young child,” he says. “Then of course I was a chorister at Bangor Cathedral for four years where, you know, there’s no escaping faith, if you like. Because I was singing in a service on a Tuesday and Thursday, rehearsing on a Friday and two services on a Sunday. So, you know, it’s a big commitment.”
Due to the remarkable quality of his treble voice, Jones’ progressed quickly and he signed for a record company at the age of 12. In 1985, his fame rose to exceptional heights through his recording of “Walking in the air”. By the time his voice broke at 16, temporarily halting his career, Jones had recorded 16 albums.
Faith music
All through this period, and on into his adulthood, Aled maintained his Christian beliefs. “It’s always been there,” he says. “I’ve never questioned it. I suppose there were about three or four years where I was at college where I didn’t really – I wasn’t really that bothered. But it wasn’t as though I turned my back on it. It’s just I didn’t actively seek it out.”
Aled feels blessed then to be able to consistently express himself through faith music, on which the majority of his career has been built. Singing faith music is both a career and a passion.
“I mean, it’s what I do,” he says when I ask him about what draws him to faith music. “It’s what I’ve always done, I love it. I’m at my happiest when I’m singing that sort of music. I love singing music that has an impact on people and I’m very lucky that I get to sing – well did anyway – that I get to sing this sort of music in places like cathedrals and churches.
“I’m sad that I’m not doing my [cathedral] tour this year, but thankfully I will get to do it in May next year. I’ve always had that connection through the music. I’ve always been very open about the fact that when I come to a church where there isn’t any music, it has no effect on me at all really. My connection is through music and it always has been.”
When I ask how he finds the energy and drive to keep on touring all this time, Aled quickly brushed such concerns aside with a smile.
“If you’re doing a cathedral tour and you don’t feel inspired then you never will be,” he says. “A, the sound checks are amazing because they’re all so well built, and B they look amazing! So I’m taking my inspiration from some of the greatest architects in the world and have spent years and years building these testaments to what they believe in. So a Cathedral tour is such a delight.”
Lockdown
As with many millions of people around the world, Aled found lockdown a very difficult experience. As a performer, being stuck at home without an audience or an outlet for his passion was exceptionally frustrating.
“Being a performer, as time has gone on now, it’s been horrendous,” he says. “We don’t know when we can go and do what we do again. It’s the longest I’ve gone not singing in front of an audience since I was 9. So, I’ve a hotel concert coming up at the end of the month and I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about it because it’s been such a long time coming.”
One of the things that helped Aled through, aside from the company of his family of course, was his music – and through that, his faith.
“I spent three weeks of lockdown learning the songs for the album,” he explains. “The orchestra had already been recorded because they were in New Zealand and their lockdown came before ours.
“I sang and sang and sang these songs for three weeks and when I eventually got into the studio, the whole album was done in 12 hours. I think it was an outpouring, I really wanted to sing these songs and move people with them. It was probably the quickest album I’ve done.”
However, there were some ways in which it proved beneficial. In general, Aled hopes that people rediscovered the value of communities. For himself, it was a reminder not to become blasé about the many great opportunities his career offers him. One of these is the Songs of Praise program which he has been co-hosting since 2004.
“It’s a great program to be involved in because so much care is taken by everyone who is involved in it, from the bosses right down to the runners,” Aled says. “It’s a show that means I’m privileged enough to speak to people who talk much more eloquently about faith and what it means to them – you cannot help being impacted by meeting these people.
“And it’s fantastic to film in these places. For instance last week I was in St Paul’s Cathedral – I mean, what an honour. In the past, because I’ve been presenting the program for 20 years now – in the past, I might have been a bit blasé about that – but if lockdown has taught us one thing, it’s to appreciate every moment that you’re given because it can be taken away from you. So yeah, I’m very privileged to be a Songs of Praise presenter.”
Christmas
For many, whatever else he does, Aled Jones will always be associated with Christmas music through his hit Walking in the air”. Christmas at his house, he tells me, is a very traditional affair, though this year will be slightly different.
“This year, I’m not sure what Christmas will be like because we’ll be in Canada actually,” he explains. “My daughter’s in Canada filming at the moment, but usually it’s very traditional. All hands on deck, playing games we wouldn’t normally play during the year and just having quality time together.”
It will be an especially meaningful Christmas, however, after the experience of two lockdowns. The first was spent with his family and was, he says, “an incredibly powerful” experience. Now, however, he’s separated from them and immensely looking forward to being reunited.
“When lockdown first started, the fact that I hadn’t spent so long with the family in a long time, it was something so precious and I loved every minute of it,” he says. “It’s only as time went on where you know you then have to think about work and all this business, and real life gets in the way. But for those first few months and weeks, it was you know cooking together, spending time together and I’ve really valued that. And now, with my family being away, I miss them terribly.”
The magic of music simply won’t die for Aled and he hopes to continue singing for a good many years to come. He’s already looking forward to being able to perform in front of crowds again. In fact, it brings out a little childlike glee in him. Perhaps that’s the key to his success, a childlike wonderment for faith and music. In keeping with that is his favourite Christmas hymn, one which may come as a surprise.
“It’ll always be ‘Away in a Manger’,” he says. “And sometimes people will say, oh, that’s such a childish carol and that’s why I love it. It sets the scene so beautifully for the story. It takes me back to being a child in Llandegfan primary school in North Wales and, you know, sitting there cross legged singing it for the first time and being so impacted by it. It has a childish quality, but that’s what I love about it.”
Aled’s new album Blessings is available on BMG; Everyday Blessings was published on November 6 by Hodder and Stoughton. Aled tours the UK from May 2021. Visit officialaledjones.com for more info.
