Aled Jones picks his 10 most memorable moments

ALED JONES has been one of the country’s most famous voices ever since his boyhood days of Walking In The Air.

Aled, now 45, has continued to sing and has also become a much sought-after TV presenter and radio host.

The affable Welshman has two children, Emilia, 14, and Lucas, 11, with his wife Claire.

He is currently wowing fans on a Cathedral Tour, singing in some of the UK’s most special places of worship.

He’s at Durham Cathedral on Friday June 10 and Paisley Abbey on Saturday June 11.

For tickets, call 0844 844 0444 or go to ticketmaster.co.uk

Here, he shares his 10 memorable moments with us.

A Regal Slip-Up

One of my most embarrassing moments was when I forgot my words in front of the Queen. It was at a Royal Gala Performance in Edinburgh when I was about 12.

I was singing Memory, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which turned out to be a bit ironic.

During rehearsals the show’s director said he didn’t think I should have a copy as I’d know the words anyway. I sang the first verse and then had a total blank. I was petrified.

My legs were shaking and it was like my recurring nightmare from my childhood about freezing and having nothing in my head. But something came to mind and I just made up some different words.

By Royal Appointment

I was invited to Kensington Palace to sing for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

I was 14 and, as it was a private audience, I was so anxious as we drove up to the gates. We spent a few hours there, an hour singing and a couple of hours afterwards chatting.

I remember Diana coming in with wet hair because she’d been swimming. Prince Charles wanted to hear me do things like Handel, while Diana asked if I had any Beatles songs. It was really informal and casual and one of those things I’ll never forget.

Aled Jones is made an MBE by Prince William (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Musical Idol

I was asked to sing the Chichester Psalms with Leonard Bernstein, probably the greatest composer in the world at the time.

I was 15 and it was
just after he’d done a documentary about West Side Story when he critiqued Jose Carreras so I remember being petrified before I met him. I needn’t have been, because he was amazing.

I’ve never performed with anyone with as much energy on the conductor’s podium.

He was full of fun and kept grabbing me in a headlock and saying how much he’d wanted to work with me.

Hurrah For Hollywood

Again when I was 14 or 15 I performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It was the last night of a concert series which ended with a huge firework display.

Performing at such an iconic venue in front of 27,000 Americans enjoying an open air picnic was a big thrill.

I loved seeing my name on the flickering sign outside but I think I was even more excited at the thought of going to Disneyland the next day.

Wedding Daze

When Claire and I got married it was in the Actors Church, St Paul’s Covent Garden in London. We had one of my favourite choirs, a boys choir called Libera and the music was so beautiful I bawled my way through the whole thing.

I knew Marco Pierre White and in a weak moment he said we could have the reception in his restaurant the Criterion in Piccadilly.

It’s stunning inside and he looked after us amazingly well. I saw him a week later and he said I’d got the deal of the century because I’d caught him after a few glasses of champagne. I’d never have been able to afford it otherwise.

My dad sang, which was a bit of a rarity.

Aled Jones with bride Claire Fossett (PA Archive) — Aled Jones marries wife Claire (PA Archive)

Baby Love

Being present at the births of both of my children Emelia and Lucas tops everything. As far as moments go, they don’t get any bigger. Just being able to share that was phenomenal.

I think I was even more anxious at Lucas’s birth as you know what’s coming.

Children change your life completely and being at the births was a lot more daunting than getting on stage.

Mum’s The Word

Getting my MBE was a hugely memorable day. It was the ceremony Prince William had done so he was a bit nervous.

I got told off because we had such a long chat. I think you’re supposed to talk for a minute but we spoke for about three because he was talking about RAF Valley in north Wales, where he was stationed.

I knew a lot of the same people, having filmed there. And he also knew that I knew his mum really well. I’d spent such a lot of time with Diana and we even had the same Scottish hairdresser.

Buckingham Palace is as grand as you’d imagine – and then some. Walking up the red-carpeted steps was quite something.

The guards were so still they were like mannequins until one of them moved and my son jumped out of his skin.

National Pride

I sang the Welsh national anthem at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff before Wales went on to beat England at rugby six years ago.

My dad was always such a massive rugby fan and when I was a noisy kid I’d be ushered out of the house so he could watch games in peace. For him and my mum to see me sing our anthem there was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier or more proud. I think he had a severe hangover the next day – as did I!

Singer Aled Jones poses with cardboard cut-out of himself as a young choirboy (PA Archive)

Beat That

I was making a BBC programme, Play It Again, where I had to learn to play the drums. The final test was playing at a proper big concert, a Chris de Burgh gig in front of 30,000 fans in Germany.

When I arrived I found I’d learned the wrong song. I had about two hours to master a new one. Chris was lovely but I’ve never been so nervous. I went back to the hotel and used the pillows in the room as drums as I desperately tried to learn it.

Amazingly, it went off perfectly. I have drums at home but hardly ever play them.

Teary Triumph

My last moment would be my new album One Voice on which I duet with myself, through recordings I made when I was 15.

I spent five weeks at No 1 in the classical charts recently but I also got to No 3 in the pop charts, the highest I’ve ever been.

The first half of my cathedral tour is the duets. I look into the front row and see people crying. Something about it seems to resonate. When I sing with my younger self there’s lots of footage from back then and it’s like it takes people back to a time when life was maybe a bit easier.