MY ROYAL APPOINTMENT
STEREOPHONICS FRONTMAN KELLY JONES TELLS MARION MCMULLEN ABOUT HIS INVITATION TO THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA
singer Kelly Jones recalls looking across the aisle at American star Lionel Richie in Westminster Abbey when he attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla last year.
“It was quite interesting to get the invitation,” he says.
“I was not really expecting to be invited to a coronation. I was in the kitchen with the kids when it arrived and I was like ‘the king’s coronation, really?’”
“It was an interesting day, a historical event in the span of your lifetime, but by 2.30pm I was back in the pub having a pint with my dad.”
Kelly was around 17 when he first applied to the Prince’s Trust and received £500 to buy some speakers. When they were stolen, they were awarded a grant of £1,000 and over the years the Welsh singer-songwriter and Stereophonics have worked with the charity.
Kelly also took part in Roger Daltrey’s concert for the Teenage Cancer Trust back in March.
The Ovation concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London marked the 80-year-old star of The Who’s final performance as curator of the Trust’s gigs, following 24 years at the helm. Kelly joined the likes of Robert Plant with Saving Grace, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Paul Weller.
He says: “I’ve been an ambassador for the Trust for something like 24 years. I have done a lot of the concerts and I opened one of the wards in Cardiff with Roger Daltrey.
“His last concert was special. It’s a bit crazy to find yourself sharing a stage with people like Robert Plant and seeing yourself on T-shirts and posters with these people – all the people I listened to as a kid.”
Kelly is bringing out new album Inevitable Incredible, which he recorded in just six days with his studio engineer and backline technician at Ocean Sound studio in Norway, on a tiny remote island in the North Sea.
“I was sleeping in a bedroom above the studio, so I would just come down, go for a walk and then head into the studio.
“I think I saw about three or four people the whole time. There were definitely no distractions.”
He adds: “There were no expectations for how the songs should sound. Just [to] let the emotion and vulnerability I put into writing those songs come to life.
“The weather could change in a minute and there was little to no contact with the outside world.
“All this influenced how the songs came to be. It was a truly cathartic experience. I feel like I left it all out there on these songs.”
Kelly composed the album on the piano and says: “I have family members who play the piano very well and I’ve always played, I’ve dabbled.”
When he goes on tour next month, Kelly will be joined by a string quartet and Stereophonics bandmate Richard Jones.
Many dates will see Kelly play two concerts on the same day.
“I haven’t done that since I played working men’s clubs when I first started out,” he smiles.
Stereophonics released their
debut album Word Gets Around in 1997 and topped the charts with follow-up Performance And Cocktails in 1999. They have since scored seven more number one albums and their hits include Just Looking, Maybe Tomorrow, C’est La Vie and Have A Nice Day. Kelly shifted gears again with the recent UK success of his Americana-influenced album Far From Saints. The project and album of the same name saw him work with Dwight Baker and Patty Lynn of The Wind and The Wave. “Writing an entire album on the piano is something I’ve never done before,” he says of Inevitable Incredible, “and I think you have to be in the moment to perform it live. It’s not something you can dial in.
“It’s kind of a deep record. It’s when you reach a certain period of your life when you are searching, questioning and feeling.
“It’s not something you can have as background music or have on when you are driving.
“It’s not a record for everybody, but is something you have to sit and listen to.”
The father-of-four turns 50 in June, but says he’s never been big on birthdays so is hoping to keep everything low-key.
“The alternative to birthdays is death,” he points out with a wry chuckle, “so just keep them coming and I’ll be alright.”
Inevitable Incredible comes out on Stylus Records through Ignition Records Ltd on May 3 with the tour running from May 4. Visit stereophonics. com for details
By 2.30pm I was back in the pub having a pint with my dad Kelly on coronation day last May