1980s Jones appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before inviting
mime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as Jones played behind him. In 1983, he hired the
Marquee Club in London and invited
record labels to come and see him perform. After a
BBC Radio 1 session, Jones obtained
opening act slots with
China Crisis and
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) before signing a
recording contract with
Warner Music Group, then called WEA, in mid-1983. Jones' first
single, "
New Song", was released in September 1983. It reached the top 30 in the US and the
top 5 in the UK. Jones' second LP,
The 12″ Album was a
remix album. In 1985, Jones released his second studio album,
Dream into Action, Jones's subsequent studio album,
Cross That Line (1989), performed poorly in the UK, After Jones' contract with WMG expired, he concentrated on production, songwriting, and running a restaurant. The same year Jones provided a vocal for the song "Into the Dark" by
Ferry Corsten for the latter's studio album,
L.E.F. Jones was also featured on
Katrina Carlson's
cover version of "No One Is to Blame", which entered the US
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2007. In October 2006, Jones released "Building Our Own Future" as a
podsafe track, as one of several established artists looking to use
podcasts as a new means of promoting their music and tours. The song debuted at number 1 on the PMC Top10 on 29 October 2006 and spent four weeks at the top of the chart. Jones' track "Revolution of the Heart" spent five weeks at number 1 on the PMC Top10 during 2007 and finished the year as the number 2 song in their annual countdown. Jones embarked on an acoustic tour of Australia in 2007, beginning in
Brisbane and concluding on 5 April in
Perth. The
Revolution Remixed & Surrounded album was followed in November by
Live in Birkenhead. Jones performed another acoustic set, with other 1980s acts at the Retrofest, on 1 September 2007 at
Culzean Castle in
Ayrshire, Scotland. Jones is a member of
Sōka Gakkai International, and is musical director of one of its choirs, the Glorious Life Chorus. The chorus performs some of his songs in its repertoire, including "Building Our Own Future" and "Respected". He returned to Australia again in 2009, this time accompanied by vocalist Laura Clapp and music technologist Robbie Bronnimann. On 26 February 2009, Jones was at the UK premiere of
Roland's new V-Piano in
Bristol, and performed "Hide and Seek". He continues to tour, and played the 'Big Hair Affair 2009' on 1 August 2009 at the Ryedale Arena,
Pickering,
North Yorkshire.
Ordinary Heroes was released in November 2009, and he toured London, Cardiff and Manchester with a string section and the
Morriston Orpheus Choir (in
St David's Hall in
Cardiff). During an interview with the ''Stuck in the '80s'' podcast after the album's release, Jones said "Soon You'll Go" was inspired by his daughter's upcoming departure to university, but that the song has come to take on broader meaning about cherishing the time he has with people. Jones is a member of the board of directors for the
Featured Artists' Coalition, which was founded in 2009.
2010s ,
Wiltshire, 2015 On 29 November 2011, a UK tour was announced. ''Human's Lib
and Dream into Action
were performed in April 2012 across eight venues. A weekly radio series coincided with tour called Electronic 80s with Howard Jones'' on
Absolute Radio. In 2012, he appeared on "The Song That Changed My Life" on BYUtv, the cable station for
Brigham Young University (BYU). In 2015, the release of
Engage was made on Jones' own D-tox Records. In 2016, he went out on tour supporting
Barenaked Ladies as an opening act for their Last Summer on Earth US tour, reuniting with OMD. In 2018, Jones joined fellow musician
Steve Hogarth of
neo-prog band
Marillion by being present at the unveiling of a sculpture in tribute to
David Bowie in
Aylesbury,
Buckinghamshire.
Transform was released on 10 May, 2019. It features three collaborations with American
electronic musician
BT. It is the second electronic album in a set of four, the first being
Engage. In 2022 the third album was released,
Dialogue consisting of eight songs.
2020s Piano Composed was released on 23 May, 2025 in two different versions, one on vinyl and one on CD. This is Jones' third piano-based album. He composed and refined ten piano pieces during
COVID-19 lockdowns (from an original 15-20 pieces), which was released as
Piano Composed Ivory on vinyl. Inspired by a session with a
Steinway Spirio
player piano, he reimagined the tracks using its advanced capabilities (creating complex, unplayable arrangements) which was released as
Piano Composed Spirio on CD, showcasing two distinct interpretations of the same compositions. == In the media ==