Richard Jones (born 23 May 1974) is a Welsh bassist,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and backing vocalist from Cwmaman,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, for the Welsh post-Britpop

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

. Jones grew up in Cwmaman, an old mining village in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Richard originally formed Stereophonics with Kelly Jones (no relation) and Stuart Cable, playing under the name "Tragic Love Company". Jones played to his largest audience on 2 July 2005 when the group appeared at the

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

concert, in

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...

. Jones is often noted for his tattoos, and claims; "I got my first tattoo done in one of the Welsh Valleys when I was 16 or 17. By law you shouldn't have them before you're 18 but this tattooist bloke figured if you were old enough to walk in his shop, you were old enough to have them done. I wanted Jonesy tattooed on my arm but he spelt it wrong and put J-O-N-S-E-Y. I went back a few weeks later and asked for a big tattoo on my body but I hadn't got enough money, so instead he tattooed Richard on the side of my neck. I quite regret that one, actually." The 'Jonsey' tattoo on Jones' upper-right arm, among others, has since been covered up by Maori,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese and Tibetan designs across his arms and upper chest. He is an avid motorcycle enthusiast and has had multiple Ducati bikes.

References

1974 births Living people Welsh bass guitarists People from Aberdare 21st-century British bass guitarists Stereophonics members {{UK-bass-guitarist-stub

See also

References