‘Songs of Praise’ Host Aled Jones Brings ‘My Story, My Songs’ to Sydney

Welsh singer and broadcaster Aled Jones is preparing to bring a deeply personal show to Australian audiences, revisiting a career that began in childhood and continues to resonate across generations.

Key points:

Welsh singer Aled Jones reflects on his career from child star to broadcaster in his new tour My Story, My Songs.
The show combines personal stories, music and archival footage, revisiting defining moments from the 1970s to today.
Aled says his long-running role on Songs of Praise continues to shape his faith and connect audiences with worship.

As a boy soprano in the 1980s, Aled Jones had a surprise hit with Walking in the Air, a Christmas tune featured on the soundtrack for animated movie The Snowman.

“[Walking in the Air] was one of the last things I did as a kid,” Aled told Hope 103.2.

“The producer called my Dad at home and said, ‘We’ve pressed 4000 copies, we don’t expect it to sell at all but we’ll put a little ad at the end of the show and if people like it they can buy the album.’

“Four days later, the producer called my Dad and said, ‘Your son’s number two in the pop chart behind Bruce Springsteen and Born in the USA, and the album has sold 270,000 copies.’

“That’s when life changed completely.”

Walking in the Air became a Christmas staple and framed the early years of Aled’s career, where he went on to sing for the Queen, work with composer Leonard Bernstien and sing for Bob Geldolf and Paula Yates’ wedding.

In his new tour My Story, My Songs, Aled takes audiences behind-the-scenes of some these key moments and revisits the experiences that defined them.

“The first half [of the show] I describe as very bad hair and very bad clothes,” Aled said.

“We’re deeply ensconced in the 70s and the 80s, and there’s loads of footage including forgetting my words in front of the Queen, working with Leonard Bernstein, and being blown up by a puppet rat.”

The second half focuses on the present day, referencing Aled’s time on Dancing with the Stars and his extraordinary 25-plus-year run hosting the BBC’s classical Christian music program Songs of Praise.

“[Songs of Praise] showcases the best music in the world,” Aled said.

“It’s totally honest and real and full of heart and soul and goodness.

“A lot of people in the UK can’t go to church, and so Songs of Praise becomes almost their church service.”

“It brings me closer to God through doing the program, and it’s a program I know affects a lot of people.”

Aled Jones will perform My Story, My Songs at the Sydney Opera House on April 21.

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Feature image: Sydney Opera House

Laura Bennett

Laura hosts Hope Afternoons on Hope 103.2, sharing uplifting music, engaging interviews and her insights as a reviewer and author. She is also the host of the UNDISTRACTED podcast where she explores the lives and expertise of her guests in order to learn how to become better at building our lives with intention, and live in the ways of Jesus.