Aled Jones - Aled Jones: The Autobiography

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

A hard back biography which came out in 2005 and has already been remaindered (presumably indicating that it didn't sell quite as well as Virgin Books had hoped). The problem is that Aled's story is somewhat less interesting than you might think and although the chorister-catapulted-to-stardom schtick has its moments, this chronicle of Aled's life is rather gushingly written and full of a rather irritating tendency to name drop (particularly his numerous fleeting encounters with pop stars at awards ceremonies and things). Still, helped by Classic FM's Darren Henly, the book does document Aled's childhood years on the island of Anglesey, his years as a chorister at Bangor Cathedral, his sudden elevation to superstardom thanks to The Snowman movie (as all Trivial Pursuits devotees will know it wasn't Aled's vocal heard on the movie, only the hit record of "Walking In The Air"), his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and his successful new career as a TV and radio presenter. Cross Rhythms readers will be particularly disappointed by the chapter on Songs Of Praise which seems to indicate a far from evangelical approach to the Christian life. Still, this patchy book does fill in some of the gaps.