Richard Jones is a British music
producer,
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
,
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
player and founding member of the
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
The Feeling
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
.
Career
Jones attended the
BRIT School
The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, danc ...
in
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
. He cites
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
John Deacon
John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", " Another One Bit ...
among his influences. He also admires
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...
and
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...
for their "technicality".
Prior to The Feeling signing to Island records in 2005 Jones worked primarily as a session bass guitarist and toured as a member of
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's band in 2001–2003 to promote her 2001 album ''
Read My Lips''. An April 2002 concert from
Shepherd's Bush Empire
Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...
featuring Jones was released on DVD as ''Watch My Lips''. He also appears frequently on a bonus feature on the DVD, a video diary about life on the road during the tour. Since then Jones has played bass on all of Ellis-Bextor's studio albums and on many tours in between work with the Feeling.
As a member of The Feeling, Jones won Songwriter of the Year in 2007 at the
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
.
In 2010 Jones co-founded and curated the Little World music festival held 2010/11 in
Meribel, France
He performed in the closing ceremony of the
2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
on 12 August 2012 with
Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
,
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
and
Mike Rutherford
Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.
Initially servin ...
.
During 2016-17 Jones joined
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
band on bass guitar duties during his Get Up tour as cover for long term bassist Norm Fischer.
in 2018
Ed Harcourt
Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released six studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, ''Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Priz ...
and Jones co-organised a fundraising concert to help raise funds to save the All Star Boxing gym in Queen's Park from closure
in 2019 Richard played bass guitar as part of the band for the 'A Not So Silent Night' Christmas concerts in Dublin and London with
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...
,
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...
,
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...
,
Guy Garvey
Guy Edward John Garvey (born 6 March 1974) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and BBC Radio 6 Music presenter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Elbow.
Early life
Garvey grew up in Bury, Lancashire. His father was a gr ...
and
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...
which were held to benefit the
fund.
In 2019 Jones announced the formation of new group Loup Garoux with long-term collaborator and friend
Ed Harcourt
Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released six studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, ''Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Priz ...
and drummer of
Senseless Things
Senseless Things were an English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to play several gigs including S ...
and
Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...
,
Cass Browne
Cass Browne (born 27 September 1971 in Wimbledon, Surrey) is an English musician and writer.
He was a member of the band The Psychotics who became Senseless Things in 1986. Senseless Things made four studio albums, achieved two UK Top 20 hi ...
. The band played their first live dates supporting Supergrass in March 2020.
Jones put together the CarFest Supergroup, on behalf of Virgin radio DJ
Chris Evans, who released a live double album for the anniversary of Evans'
music and motoring festival with the profits going to a number of charities including the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Starlight Children's Foundation. Vocalists/musicians on the album include Sophie Ellis-Bextor,
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
,
KT Tunstall
Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''.
Th ...
,
Gary Kemp
Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet.
Kemp wrote the lyrics and music ...
and
Ricky Wilson.
In 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Jones and his wife
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...
broadcast live weekly "Kitchen Disco" concerts featuring herself and her family, streamed live from their kitchen on Instagram. According to Sophie, Jones came up with the concept and also films, edits and deals with the technical aspects of the broadcasts as well as appearing wearing animal masks
Personal life
Jones married British pop star
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...
on 25 June 2005 in Italy. Jones has said "something kind of smacked us in the face. The chemistry was incredible – it was like nothing I've ever experienced", Their first baby was born, two months early, only eight months after they started going out together.
Jones mentioned in a 2011
Flaps Podcast that he was learning to fly. He also talks about obtaining his private pilot's licence and his passion for flying in an interview for ''
Pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
'' magazine in 2013.
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
drummer of
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
and Richard discuss their friendship and flying together in a profile piece for the independent in 2013
As of 2019 Sophie and Richard live in West London and have 5 children
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Richard
English rock bass guitarists
Male bass guitarists
People educated at the BRIT School
People from Forest Row
Living people
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
1979 births