Aled Jones talks ahead of concert at Lichfield Cathedral

One of the highlights of the last 12 months has been the huge success of his album One Voice, which saw him duet with ‘lost’ never-released recordings of himself as a choirboy.

Creating the opus was a ‘surreal’ experience for the 46-year-old Welshman, who says he’s been blown away by the response from his fans, both here and overseas.

“Nobody had ever done anything like it before. It was strange hearing myself as a young boy. The album went straight to number one in the classical charts and number three in the pop charts,” he says, having taken a quick break from his busy schedule in London to speak to us.

For more than 30 years Aled has been synonymous with that smiling and lovable Snowman that melts our hearts every year.

His version of the iconic song from the television adaptation of Raymond Briggs much-loved The Snowman, which he recorded as a 12-year-old boy chorister, catapulted him to fame.

Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without at least one screening of the popular film and it’s impossible to get through the festive period without hearing it on the radio; it’s played almost as much as Slade’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.

Although it was actually a 13-year-old boy named Peter Auty who sang Walking In The Air on the film’s soundtrack, three years later, Aled was chosen by its composer Howard Blake to release a re-recorded version of the song, which became a huge hit.

But he had made his professional debut as a 12-year-old performing the role of the Angel in Handel’s Oratorio Jeptha on BBC Two and BBC Radio Three and by the time he was 16 he’d recorded 16 albums, selling more than six million copies.

And while you might think he’d have had enough of The Snowman to last a lifetime and would want to escape his angelic-voiced past, Aled says he has no regrets about it.

In fact, he says he’s proud that the song still holds a special place in fans’ hearts and continues to be such a big part of the British Christmas.

“I have no problems with it, I’m 46 now so it doesn’t bother me even if people do start playing it in November. When I was younger it was harder, there seemed to be no way of getting away from it.

“There are worse things to be known for and it’s lovely that people still like to watch The Snowman on TV after all these years,” says Aled, who’s married to Claire and has a daughter, Emilia, and a son, Lucas.

For One Voice he duetted with recordings of himself that were made when he was 15 years old. It was followed by the One Voice At Christmas launch which was held 18,000ft in the air onboard a plane. With Aled singing Walking In The Air, it’s gone down in history as the Christmas concert held at the highest altitude.

“It’s been an amazing year, I never thought the album would so successful. It’s been fantastic,” says Aled, who was the best-selling classical artist of 2016.

As well as being busy with his music career, Aled, who studied at at the Royal Academy of Music and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, has a successful broadcasting career turning himself to presenting both on television and radio.

He’s been a familiar face on the small screen having presented Escape to the Country and Cash in the Attic for the BBC while in 2012 Aled was asked to take on the co-presenting role with Lorraine Kelly on ITV’s breakfast show Daybreak. He left in 2014 to host his own TV show called Weekend every Saturday and Sunday on ITV, and also co-presented Two Much TV on BBC Two. Other commitments included hosting a programme called The Day I Met the Queen to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.

He presents a radio show between 7am and 10am every Sunday morning on Classic FM which he says is one of the highlights of the week. “Radio is very different to television, it’s more intimate, just you and the audience.

Milestone

“I love my show because I get to play the music that I love and share it with the listeners,” he tells us.

Aled, who recently duetted with Dame Vera Lynn on As Time Goes By for a new album, Vera Lynn 100, to celebrate her milestone birthday, will perform in Staffordshire next month.

He’ll be taking to the stage at Lichfield Cathedral on Tuesday as part of his latest tour, which has seen him give lucky local choirs the chance to join him in the spotlight.

Aled says: “It’s something I’ve always been passionate about and I wanted to give the choirs the chance to go out there and show people what they can do.

“I want then to go for it and not let nerves get in the way. I’m not looking for a model choir. I’m looking for passion and a love of singing.”

The tour, which will be followed by dates in Australia where One Voice also reached number one in the classical charts later in the year, gets under way tonight at Glasgow Paisley Abbey.

“I’m really excited about hitting the road again and singing in these fabulous venues,” he adds

“I’m a firm believer that we have the greatest choral tradition here in the UK and I’m really excited to be sharing the stage and singing with some of our greatest choirs.”

l For more information about Aled’s concert at Lichfield Cathedral concert and for tickets see www.lichfield-cathedral.org

Heather Large