Early years Jones was born June 5, 1984, in
Lake Forest, California. He started playing the saxophone but switched to the guitar. He started listening to bands like
Manowar,
Blink-182 and
Slipknot. In his adolescence, he formed several local bands, which had only small presentations until when he turned 19 and he had his first tour.
A Smile from the Trenches In 2007, Derek joined the band A Smile from the Trenches. On June 29, 2007, they released the self-titled EP. The same year, the band was invited to the Vans Warped Tour. On October 13, 2009, they released their first studio album, titled
Leave the Gambling for Vegas, on which they covered the song "
Bad Romance" by
Lady Gaga. In May 2010, Derek left the band to join
Falling in Reverse, and the band split in September 2010.
Falling in Reverse In 2008 Jones was part of the original lineup of Falling in Reverse while still part of A Smile From The Trenches. The band only recorded demos as Radke was in prison until December 2010. In May 2010 after leaving A Smile From The Trenches, Derek moved to Las Vegas due to his commitment to Falling In Reverse. Since
Ronnie Radke was still in prison, the band had to wait for Ronnie to leave, in December 2010. On July 26, 2011, they released their first album,
The Drug in Me Is You, which peaked at No. 19 on the
Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week. The band's second studio album,
Fashionably Late, which was released on June 18, 2013, peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200. The band released their third album
Just Like You on February 24, 2015.
Coming Home, their fourth album, was released on April 7, 2017. This would mark the last album released whilst Derek was still alive. Besides Ronnie, Jones was the only original member of the band until his death in 2020, and was the only member besides Radke to feature on every release. == Personal life and death ==