Mick Jones

Michael Geoffrey Jones (born 26 June 1955) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as co-founder and lead guitarist of punk rock band the Clash, until his dismissal by frontman Joe Strummer in 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the band Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James (formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik) since 2002 and was part of the Gorillaz live band for a world tour in 2010. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.

Michael Geoffrey Jones was born on 26 June 1955 in Wandsworth, London, England, to a Welsh father, Tommy Jones, and a Russian Jewish mother, Renee Zegansky. He spent much of his early life living with his maternal grandmother, Stella Class, who was born in 1899 to Jewish parents in Russia and escaped the Russian pogroms by migrating to the United Kingdom. Jones' cousin is Grant Shapps, the former Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield. Jones went to Strand School in south London, and the West London School of Art (Chelsea College of Art), because " thought that's how you get into bands and stuff".

He started gaining recognition as a guitarist in the early 1970s with his glam rock band, the Delinquents. A short time later, he met Tony James and formed the proto-punk band London SS. By 1976, that band had broken up and remaining members Jones, Paul Simonon and Keith Levene were seeking a new direction.

When Jones was 21, he and Paul Simonon were introduced to Joe Strummer by Bernie Rhodes in a squat in Shepherd's Bush. The band rehearsed in a former railway warehouse in Camden Town and the Clash was formed. Jones played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs for the band. One of the songs he wrote, "Train in Vain", was allegedly about Jones' relationship with Viv Albertine, guitarist of the Slits. Following the release of Combat Rock, the Clash were at the height of their popularity in 1983, but a "toxic" atmosphere had developed within the band. Jones wanted to take a break and rest, while Strummer and Simonon wished to take advantage of their recent success and continue working. Strummer later described Jones as having become "intolerable" to work with during this time, often failing to show up, and when he did, acting like "Elizabeth Taylor in a filthy mood." Meanwhile, the personal relationship between Jones and Simonon had deteriorated to the point they were not on speaking terms, with Simonon feeling the band had to fire Jones or break up. Strummer and Simonon fired him on 1 September 1983. Jones later expressed remorse for his behavior, stating, "I was just carried away really, I wish I had a bit more control." His departure marked "the beginning of the end" for the Clash, who released one poorly-received album without Jones then disbanded.

For his time with the Clash, Jones, along with the rest of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.