KELLY'S HEROES
WHEN STEREOPHONICS’ KELLY JONES RECEIVED A DEVASTATING DIAGNOSIS, A SURGEON, HIS VOCAL COACH AND SIR TOM JONES HELPED HIM ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. HE TELLS MARION McMULLEN ALL ABOUT IT
MUSIC has helped Stereophonics singer Kelly Jones through some of the toughest times of his life, but he was left silent following a hospital visit. A routine health check revealed a growth on his vocal chords and he found himself heading to hospital for an operation.
“It was just a routine check that I do every year naturally as a way of life and they found a trauma polyp,” says Kelly. “It wasn’t caused through singing or anything like that. It can be caused by a cough or an accident.
“It was quite a process to go through, but I had to trust in my surgeon Declan Costello and vocal coach Josh Alamu afterwards and their advice. The decision was that this had to happen.” Sound Of Music star Dame Julie Andrews lost her voice after an operation to remove a cyst on her vocal chords in 1997 and Kelly knew the risks of surgery. His polyp was found to be benign, but it meant the Welsh singer had to learn to speak and find his voice again.
“The first few months I didn’t do anything,” he says.
“It wasn’t hard for me not to talk. I wasn’t allowed to speak and I went home to Wales and spent two weeks by myself.”
He chuckles: “I couldn’t go out in case I met someone I knew on the street, any old friends, and would have to mime to them. I didn’t want anyone to know. “After that I was allowed to talk for two minutes a day, a few lines from a book, and build it up over time.”
The 46-year-old singer songwriter was told on New Year’s Eve 2018 that they would have to operate but he kept his personal battle a secret from almost everyone including his band, crew and album co-producers as he worked to find his singing voice again. “I’ve never had a vocal coach, but Josh was a lovely guy and helped me during the first three months. I’d always done exercise and looked after myself, but I had no idea how much it would take to sing again.
“I would get frustrated and it was a lot of mental work. There was a lot going on. A lot of worry and anxiety, but you can’t think about that. It’s just like a ballet dancer who has broken their ankle going on stage and worrying they are going to fall over.” Fellow Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones was one of the few people Kelly told and he says he was incredibly supportive and told him “you’ll get there”.
Kelly finally returned to the stage by purposely marching out of his comfort zone with a solo tour. None had any idea what he had been through as he told them: “Music has got me through the worst of my times – and when I write the songs they are for me, channelling through me and informing me on my own life. But then they become your songs” New album Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day captures the spirit of the live shows while the accompanying documentary of the same name captures all Kelly has gone through.
■ Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day is out on December 4 (stereophonics.com). The documentary is in UK cinemas from December 11, with the global online premiere on December 18.
■ GO to dontlet-thedeviltakeanotherdayfilm.com/ for details.