\u201cI had very long hair when I went to music college, so I guess that\u2019s a bit hippie-ish,\u201d said Jones, who brings his \u201cThings Can Only Get Better\u201d tour to SDSU\u2019s Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre next Friday, July 24.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t know if hippies practiced piano nine hour a day, playing all the classical repertoire. And as soon as I left college, I had my hair cut really short and started to think very differently. But I don\u2019t think anybody could have avoided the hippie philosophy of the time, because there are a lot of great things about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps not coincidentally, Jones next album \u2014 due out in 2027 \u2014 is entitled \u201cGlobal Citizen.\u201d Its first single, \u201cStand Up,\u201d was released July 9. The song\u2019s lyrics encourage listeners to better the world by non-violently opposing authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
To underscore his commitment to peaceful change, Jones is featuring \u201cStand Up\u201d as the opening number on his \u201cThings Can Only Get Better\u201d tour, which he curated and which features the bands Wang Chung, English Beat and Modern English.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not going to slide into a completely authoritarian\u00a0world, then each one of us must stand up for the direction that we want\u00a0society to go in,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do that, as individuals, then we\u2019ll just be passengers to authoritarianism. And I don\u2019t think anybody is going to enjoy that, because it hasn\u2019t worked in the past and it\u2019s not going to work now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones, 71, cites the Rev. Jesse Jackson\u2019s 1972 poem \u201cStand Up, Black Man\u201d as a major inspiration for \u201cStand Up.\u201d The famed Civil Rights leader died in February at the age of 84.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very straightforward poem that is so brilliant,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t heard it before he passed away, and I thought: \u2018I want to take inspiration from it\u2019 because so many of the big problems in the world are caused because people think other people are different from them \u2014 \u2018They don\u2019t think or dress the way I do\u2019 \u2014 so they\u2019re scared of them, and this is the cause of conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we should always be\u00a0looking for the things that unite us, our humanity. So, stand up and be counted. It doesn\u2019t mean you have to\u00a0be aggressive or confrontational, but to challenge\u00a0behavior around you that is disrespectful. That\u2019s the message of the song: For people to have\u00a0confidence in their beliefs and their good nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those attributes have helped Jones sustain a career that is now in its fifth decade. His first single, \u201cNew Song,\u201d was released in 1983. It was followed by his 1984 debut album, \u201cHuman\u2019s Lib.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album topped the charts in his native England, where he scored six Top 10 singles between 1983 and 1986. One of them \u201cNo One Is To Blame,\u201d rose to the No. 4 spot in the U.S. on the national Billboard charts. The song also inspired an unusual tradition in San Diego, where Jones first performed in 1984 as the opening act for Joe Jackson at the SDSU Open Air Theatre. His \u201cband\u201d at the time consisted of Jones on vocals and synthesizers with silent accompaniment from a mime, Jed Hoile.<\/p>\n
![\"Howard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sut-l-music-howardjones-0717-01.jpg\")
Howard Jones is shown in 1983, the year his first single was released. He made his San Diego debut a year later as the opening act for Joe Jackson. (Simon Fowler\/howardjones.com)
\nAirborne puzzle pieces<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this particular thing that San Diego audiences do that no one does anywhere else,\u201d Jones said in a 1996 Union-Tribune interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I get to the song \u2018No One is to Blame,\u2019 I (sing): \u2018This is the last piece of the puzzle and I just can\u2019t make it fit.\u2019 As soon as I say that line, a rain of jigsaw-puzzle pieces hits the stage and has done so ever since I\u2019ve been performing that song in \u201985. It\u2019s this incredible tradition. It\u2019s become so bad that I can hardly sing the song.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones was 30 in 1985. Speaking by phone last week from his home in Somerset, England, he\u00a0 laughed uproariously when asked if he\u2019d ever worn protective headgear at any of his San Diego concerts.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you talking about the puzzle pieces?\u201d he asked, laughing again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only place that ever happened was in San Diego. It was a bit of a shock the first time, and then it continued each time I performed there. The trouble with puzzle pieces is they get caught in my keyboards. They slot in between the keys, so it\u2019s actually a bit annoying when that happens because I can\u2019t play the song properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Jones be disappointed if at least one puzzle piece doesn\u2019t come flying up on stage during his San Diego concert next week?<\/p>\n
He laughed again. \u201cNo, I probably won\u2019t. I mean, I think that that was great when it happened, but that era now is over. We move on!\u201d<\/p>\n
He dissolved into an even bigger burst of laughter when asked if a puzzle company had ever approached him to do a corporate endorsement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones recently chatted with the San Diego Union-Tribune for 40 minutes. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n
![\"English](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LDN-L-JONES-0717-01.jpg\")
English singer, musician and songwriter Howard Jones is shown during a 1985 performance. (Stoddart\/Daily Express\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Q: You made your San Diego concert debut 42 years ago as the opening for Joe Jackson, at the same venue where you are performing next week. Had anyone told you then that you\u2019d be back playing the same venue in 2026 \u2014 and curating the lineup of bands for the concert here and an entire U.S. tour \u2014 would that have seemed remotely possible? Or would you have thought they were out of their mind?<\/p>\n
Jones: I would have thought they\u2019re out of their mind! I was only trying to make sure that my second album did well enough for me to keep going a bit longer, and I never would have thought I could keep going this long, but I did it. I did know one thing, though: This is the only thing I want to do.<\/p>\n
Q: And if you were no longer touring or recording?<\/p>\n
Jones: I would be playing in a pub somewhere, or a bar, doing my own music. I would still be doing this because this is what I\u2019m supposed to do. I love it, and it\u2019s what I can contribute. But I didn\u2019t think it would be possible to keep it going for 40 years because, you know, pop music doesn\u2019t allow you to do that very often. But it has; it\u2019s been kind to me. People still want to come hear me. And I\u2019m still making new music and I\u2019m loving it. I\u2019m still trying to get better at what I do.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a process of evolution of the person and their skills. So, every day I\u2019m in the studio, working on something new. And it\u2019s got to be passionate like that. Because otherwise, if you go out on stage and you don\u2019t have that passion, people know, they feel it, that you\u2019re just going through the motions or just doing it for the money. That\u2019s why I\u2019m always trying to work on something new, playing new things in the set, finding new ways of playing the songs, singing better, playing better. Evolution!<\/p>\n
Q: How does that correspond to the fact that, on a tour like this \u2014 with four artists who scored their biggest hits in the 1980s \u2014 a lot of concertgoers will be coming with a very deep sense of nostalgia and a desire to relive the music of their youth?<\/p>\n
Jones: Well, I\u2019ll be playing my brand new \u201cStand Up\u201d as the first song in my set. I\u2019ve also composed a completely new intro section, and I\u2019ve got a new drummer with me now who\u2019s playing entirely electronic drums. So, it\u2019s always new and different. That said, you\u2019re very right: There is an element of nostalgia in there.<\/p>\n
But I also want to show people that you can be moving forward as well, not just living in the past like you\u2019re some sort of museum exhibit. I think my fans know that I\u2019m going to be changing things up, and that doing so keeps it interesting for me, and hopefully for them, too. But, yeah, I think a lot about what you\u2019re saying. It\u2019s very important to move forward.<\/p>\n
![\"Howard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sut-l-music-howardjones-0717.jpeg\")
Howard Jones cites the seminal English progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer (shown here in 1972) as a prime musical inspiration. The group\u2019s members are, from left, bassist\/singer Greg Lake, keyboardist Keith Emerson and drummer Carl Palmer. Lake and Emerson are both deceased. (PA file photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Q: We last spoke a few years ago when I was writing an article about the legacy of the 1969 Woodstock festival. You recalled how seeing the \u201cWoodstock\u201d movie inspired you to attend your first festival, saying: \u201cI saw (Jimi) Hendrix, The Who, Joni Mitchell and The Doors at England\u2019s Isle of Wight festival in 1970, and the reason I went to it was because I\u2019d seen the \u2018Woodstock\u2019 film. And that made me decide that that\u2019s what I wanted to do in my life. It was mind-blowing!\u201d If I recall correctly, Emerson, Lake & Palmer also played at the same Isle of Wight festival. Was that an epiphany for you?<\/p>\n
Jones: Oh, absolutely. It was their second gig \u2014 they did a small warm-up date before the Isle of Wight \u2014 and Keith Emerson had this big modular Moog synthesizer on stage. Nobody done that before, especially in that musical context. It was mind-blowing! I was such a fan of Keith, before ELP, when he was in The Nice. I saw them many times, and I got to meet Keith as well. He came to interview me for Contemporary Keyboard magazine. It was a big, big deal for me seeing him with ELP.<\/p>\n
Q: In 2001, you performed alongside Greg Lake of ELP as a member of Ringo Starr\u2019s All-Starr Band on a Ringo tour that included a concert at the same San Diego venue you are playing at here next week. How big of a full circle moment was it for you to get to play ELP\u2019s \u201cKarn Evil 9\u201d on stage with Greg on bass and vocals and Sheila E on drums?<\/p>\n
Jones: It was absolutely wonderful because I\u2019m such a big ELP fan. And to actually be playing with Greg was a major moment for me. It was an extremely difficult piece to learn. I set aside a couple of months to nail it, but I relished the challenge as a keyboard player. And I was classically trained, like Keith, so I certainly should have the chops to do it. It was a wonderful thing, yeah, absolutely brilliant.<\/p>\n
![\"Veteran](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LDN-L-JONES-0717-01_cd3e20.jpg\")
Veteran synth-pop artists Howard Jones is working on a new album, \u201cGlobal Citizen,\u201d due out next year (Jasper Jones)<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/obit_david_bowie__steven-rosenbergdailynews-com_20.jpg\")
The finale of the 1985 Live Aid fundraising concert in London featured, from left, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, Linda and Paul McCartney and Bob Geldof. Earlier in the show, Howard Jones performed a one-song solo set. (Joe Schaber \/ AP file photo)<\/p>\n