Why Aled is still walking in the air

ALED Jones is content.

"I'm very happy with the way that everything has gone," he said, taking a much-needed break in rehearsals for the stage musical White Christmas.

"I wouldn't change anything.

" I would never think that way. I had a career as a boy which was very exciting. Luckily, over the past five or six years, in my career as an adult I haven't really stopped.

"You name it, it's been good. I'm a very happy man at the moment — except when I am in the middle of a song and dance number and am sweating like mad."

It has gone full circle for Aled since his career went supersonic following the Walking In The Air theme from the animated film The Snowman in the 1980s.

After that initial rise and fall he's been on a steady burn, and now has more fingers in pies than Desperate Dan.

"I like the mix of everything I have got in my career," he said.

"I like the fact that I am able to do radio and television and a little bit of musical theatre occasionally, once or twice every two years or so.

"I like the variation in both this country and Australia, where I also spend a lot of my time."

When it comes to music, Aled's not sure where his passion comes from.

"I don't know really, my parents enjoy music but they don't sing themselves.

"As a family music was always involved and we've always enjoyed listening to music. I have uncles and great uncles that were involved in the music business but not actually singing."

For Aled, it all started with The Snowman in 1982 when he sang Walking In The Air to the Channel 4 animation.

It even got him on Top Of The Pops, led him to performing with composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and singing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Branching out from The Snowman, there were a number of albums released between 1985 and 1987 that did very nicely, earning him both gold and platinum discs.

He also became the first person to have two classical albums in the pop charts at the same time.

But then like a snowman, he disappeared, or at least vanished from the public eye.

As well as becoming a county standard tennis player, he headed off to learn his craft at the Royal Academy of Music where he joined a funky jazz outlet.

After that, training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic topped it off.

The training led to public performances again, but this time there was not going to be any meteoric rise and fall.

Appearances in Twelfth Night and Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat were followed by a slow, but steady, revitalisation of his presenting and recording career.

Aled now has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 every Sunday morning called Good Morning Sunday with Aled Jones.

He is a firm favourite on Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night as well as a regular stand-in for Sarah Kennedy, Ken Bruce, Steve Wright and Sir Terry Wogan, who he is releasing another Children in Need Christmas single with on December 7.

This year's release is Silver Bells and comes after the 2008 release of Little Drummer Boy which reached number three in the singles chart, making a considerable amount of money for the charity.

He also appears on BBC Radio 3's The Choir as well as having his own chat show on BBC Radio Wales.

It is a remarkable amount coverage for one person and it's not just radio work.

Aled currently has 27 albums to his name selling more than six million to date and last year completed a hugely successful tour of Australia.

He will be recording a carols album early next year with a view to touring Australia in September and the UK next Christmas. He will also be releasing a book on carols to accompany it. He has recently released a book called Aled's Favourite 40 Hymns.

Aled has also been busy filming Escape To The Country and Cash In The Attic, which are due to air soon as well as performing and presenting at one-off shows around the country.

He is ending the whirlwind year playing the lead role in Irving Berlin's White Christmas in Plymouth and would be forgiven for having some time off.

But for Aled it is all about learning a new 'discipline'.

"Rehearsals are going really well but I am aching a bit," he said.

"It is a bit unusual for me because I don't do this thing all the time unlike the rest of the cast. It is a good experience and a new discipline that I'm glad I'm involved in.

"I have seen the movie a couple of times and I have to say that I love this more. It is not a copy of the film, it is very much in its own right".

Aled appears as Bob Norris in the show, which is brimming with classic Irving Berlin hits like Blue Skies, How Deep is the Ocean, Happy Holiday, Sisters and, of course, the unforgettable title song White Christmas.

It tells the story of two buddies putting on a show in a magical Vermont Inn, and finding their perfect mates in the process.

Aled said: "It is a fantastic musical. It's absolutely lovely and I get to sing some glorious pieces of music — especially the ones I don't have to dance to.

White Christmas runs at the Theatre Royal until November 21.

For tickets and more information, log on to www.theatreroyal.com