Mick Jones

Mick Jones
Jones performing with Foreigner at VMWorld, San Francisco, September 2, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Michael Leslie Jones
Born	27 December 1944 (1944-12-27) (age 64) Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Genres	Rock, hard rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Years active	1961-present
Labels	Warner, Atlantic
Associated acts	Foreigner, Wonderwheel, Leslie West Band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Spooky Tooth
Website	http://www.foreigneronline.com/
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul

Michael Leslie "Mick" Jones (born 27 December 1944) is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known as the founding member of the rock band, Foreigner.

Life and career

Jones was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire. He began his music career in the early 1960s, as a member of the band Nero and the Gladiators, who scored two minor British hit singles in 1961. After the demise of the band, Jones worked as a songwriter and session musician for such artists as Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday, for whom he wrote "Oh ma jolie Sarah", until he joined Gary Wright, formerly of the band Spooky Tooth to form Wonderwheel. In 1973, Jones and Wright reformed Spooky Tooth, and after this Jones was a member of the Leslie West Band. He also played guitar on the album Wind of Change (1972) for Peter Frampton, and Dark Horse (1974) for George Harrison.

In 1976 he formed Foreigner with Ian McDonald and recruited vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones co-produced all of the group's albums and co-wrote most of their songs with Gramm. Jones wrote the band's biggest and most successful single, "I Want to Know What Love Is", with some degree of uncredited contribution by Gramm.^[1] Tensions developed within the band during the early 1980s and were attributed to a difference in musical taste between Gramm, who favoured a more hard edged rock, as opposed to Jones' interest in synthesisers. Gramm left the band in 1989 but returned in 1991. Also in 1989, Jones released his only solo album titled Mick Jones on the Atlantic Records label. Jones is the only person to play on every Foreigner album.

He co-wrote with Eric Clapton the song "Bad Love" on Clapton's, Journeyman album,^[2] and in 2002 co-wrote the song "On Her Mind" with Duncan Sheik.^[3] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he played with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.

He was married to socialite/writer Ann Dexter-Jones, mother of Mark, Samantha and Charlotte Ronson. Ann and Mick have two children, Annabelle and Alexander Dexter-Jones. Married for nearly 25 years, in 2007 Mick and Ann divorced. He also has two sons, from prior relationships, Roman and Christopher Jones.

Album producer credits

In addition to the Foreigner albums, Jones produced the following:

• 5150 - Van Halen (1986)
• Fame and Fortune - Bad Company (1986)
• Dead, White and Blue - Flesh & Blood (1989)
• Save The Last Dance For Me - Ben E. King (1989)
• Storm Front - Billy Joel (1989)
• In Deep - Tina Arena (1997)
• Beyond Good and Evil - The Cult (2001)

Solo discography

• Mick Jones (1989)

Charted single

References