Filipino-born Australian musician, journalist, actor, and events director.
Born in Manila to a Basque-Chinese father and a Catalan-American mother, he was raised in Australia from 1963, after his family migrated with his two younger siblings (fourth child, future Play School presenter Monica Trapaga, was born in Australia two years later).
Jones was educated at St Leo's Catholic College and St Ignatius' College, Riverview, at the same time as Tony Abbott.
In 1976, he founded shock rock / new wave group Jimmy and the Boys with William O'Riordan (as Joylene Thornbird Hairmouth): other members included Tom Falkinham, Scott johnson, Jason Morphett, and Andrew de Teliga, but other than Jones and O'Riordan, the line-up regularly changed. The band were known for their shocking live performances.
In the 1990s, he published the satirical non-fiction books True Hip and The True Hip Manual with McPhee Gribble: True Hip was subtitled 'Instant style for the modern desperado'.
More recently, Jones worked with David Atkins on large-scale events: they produced both opening and closing ceremonies for the Sydney Olympics, the opening ceremony of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Jones retired to the Philippines in 2022, not long after marrying his long-term partner, Filipino-Australian choreographer Novy Berener (in 2018). He and his husband lived in Iloilo City, where he died in early 2024.
Australian Writing and Rock Music affiliation: vocals.
