# Richard Jones (The Feeling)
**Richard Jones** is an English bass guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member and bassist of the British pop rock band [The Feeling](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feeling) (ザ・フィーリング), and as the husband and long-time bass player of singer [Sophie Ellis-Bextor](https://www.edgepedia.org/sophie-ellis-bextor).[1](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling) • [2](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/richard-jones-19/) He is not the [Richard Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-jones) who plays bass for the Welsh rock band Stereophonics; the two bassists are different people.[3](https://time.com/4996111/stereophonics-interview/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Founding member, bass guitar and vocals, The Feeling[1](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling) |
| Education | Met singer Dan Gillespie Sells as music students at the BRIT School in Croydon in 1995, both aged 16[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) |
| Key albums | *Twelve Stops and Home* (2006, UK No 2, over 1 million sold), *Join With Us* (2008, UK No 1), *Together We Were Made* (2011), *Boy Cried Wolf* (2013), self-titled album (2016)[5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/) • [6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) • [4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) |
| Awards | Ivor Novello Award, Songwriters of the Year (2007); Elle Style Awards Band of the Year (2008)[6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) |
| Radio peak | The Feeling were the most played act on British radio in 2006, with 97,436 plays, an average of 267 a day[5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/) |
| Other work | Bass on all of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's studio albums; sessions and touring with Rufus Wainwright, Chrissie Hynde, Bryan Adams, Ed Sheeran, Nick Mason, Roger Daltrey and Ed Harcourt[2](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/richard-jones-19/) |
| Family | Married to Sophie Ellis-Bextor; five sons[7](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/20/how-sophie-ellis-bextor-met-richard-jones-its-embarrassing-i-told-him-he-had-a-nice-amp) |
## The Feeling
**Origins.** Jones and Dan Gillespie Sells met as 16-year-old music students at the [BRIT School](https://www.edgepedia.org/brit-school) in Croydon in 1995; the other three members, brothers Kevin and Ciaran Jeremiah and drummer Paul Stewart, met at school in [West Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-sussex).[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) Before being signed, the group worked sessions and held a residency as a covers band at a ski resort in the Alps, playing as many as ten shows a week and, at one point, two sets a night in two different bars.[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) • [5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/) The band's name comes from a neon sign spotted on a Paris bar, Le Feeling, on the drive back from the Alps to London.[5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/)**Peak years.** The band's first full single release, "Sewn" (2006), entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven, and the debut album *Twelve Stops and Home* reached number two and sold over a million copies.[5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/) • [8](https://www.thefeeling.com/) In 2006 The Feeling were the most played act on British radio, and the album's run earned the band the 2007 Ivor Novello Award for Songwriters of the Year; the follow-up, *Join With Us* (2008), topped the UK album chart.[5](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/) • [6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) Jones performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.[6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf)
**The third-album setback.** The band's third album fared badly, missing the Top 20 and leading to their departure from Universal. Jones described the experience in an interview: "When we made our third album, it creatively almost killed us as a band", adding that the label's pursuit of fashionable songwriters and producers made the band "lose sight of our identity".[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) Free of label direction, the five recorded their next album themselves in a converted pub studio in east London; it was released as *Boy Cried Wolf* (2013) by BMG, the only label involvement.[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) A publisher biography gives the title as *Boy Who Cried Wolf*.[6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) In an interview about that record, Jones explained that it grew from an emotionally raw period in which the band, newly without a deal, had to decide whether to continue at all.[9](https://www.thestudentpocketguide.com/2014/01/entertainment/music/the-feeling-interview/) Later releases include a self-titled album (2016) and *Loss Hope Love* (2022), on which Jones is credited as composer, bassist, electric guitarist, producer, and vocalist.[6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) • [10](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jones-mn0001385483)
## Recording approach
Jones has described the band's working methods in a Sound On Sound feature on the making of *Twelve Stops and Home*. The band often records a take together while Paul Stewart plays Roland V-Drums, avoiding drum spill onto the other tracks, with real drums overdubbed later.[1](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling) Guitar parts are frequently layered, with two takes of each sound spread across the mix, sometimes additionally down-tuned, to add thickness.[1](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling) His own bass setup on that record was an all-valve Ampeg SVT2 re-issue miked with a [Sennheiser](https://www.edgepedia.org/sennheiser) e602 on the 8x12 cabinet, combined with a direct-injection channel through a Tech 21 Sansamp, a trick he learned from the mixer Spike Stent, whose version of the band's first single Jones described as having an "awesome" bass tone.[1](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling)
## Work with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and other artists
Jones met Sophie Ellis-Bextor in 2002, when he auditioned for her touring band; her first words to him, "Nice amp", are now displayed in neon in his studio. Both were 22. They became a couple two years later while touring together, married, and have five sons.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/20/how-sophie-ellis-bextor-met-richard-jones-its-embarrassing-i-told-him-he-had-a-nice-amp) • [11](https://sophieellisbextorfans.blogspot.com/2009/07/) He stepped back from her band when their relationship began, but has since played bass on all of her studio albums and tours frequently with her.[2](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/richard-jones-19/) • [12](https://podcastrex.com/shows/now-thats-bass/how-richard-jones-got-the-bryan-adams-gig-and-kept-getting-called-back)
During the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns the couple staged weekly "Kitchen Disco" Instagram live concerts featuring their five children, filmed and produced by Jones; a family cookbook followed from the same series.[6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf) • [13](https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/interviews/sophie-ellis-bextor)
## Flying and other interests
Jones took up flying after his wife bought him lessons for his birthday, and he shares an aeroplane with [Pink Floyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/pink-floyd)'s drummer [Nick Mason](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-mason), in which he flew the band from London to their mixing sessions in Suffolk in 2013.[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html) A 2026 podcast episode describes how he accepted a call from [Bryan Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-adams) with six days to learn an entire arena set, the kind of working-bassist challenge he has made a specialty.[14](https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/how-richard-jones-got-the-bryan-adams-gig-and/id1883405620?i=1000796168290)
## References
1. [The Feeling, Sound On Sound](https://www.soundonsound.com/people/feeling)
2. [Richard Jones, contributor biography, Hachette UK](https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/richard-jones-19/)
3. [Meet the Major U.K. Band You've Been Missing Out on for Decades, TIME](https://time.com/4996111/stereophonics-interview/)
4. [The Feeling: the soft machine returns, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-feeling-the-soft-machine-returns-8872241.html)
5. [THE FEELING biography, Universal Music Japan](https://www.universal-music.co.jp/feeling/biography/)
6. [Richard Jones biography, Octopus catalogue, Hachette UK](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Catalogue-OCTOPUS_Fall_2022.pdf)
7. [How Sophie Ellis-Bextor met Richard Jones, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/20/how-sophie-ellis-bextor-met-richard-jones-its-embarrassing-i-told-him-he-had-a-nice-amp)
8. [The Feeling, official site](https://www.thefeeling.com/)
9. [The Feeling Interview, Student Pocket Guide](https://www.thestudentpocketguide.com/2014/01/entertainment/music/the-feeling-interview/)
10. [Richard Jones, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jones-mn0001385483)
11. [Sophierazzi: Heat Magazine interview, July 2009](https://sophieellisbextorfans.blogspot.com/2009/07/)
12. [How Richard Jones Got the Bryan Adams Gig, Now That's Bass, Podcast Rex](https://podcastrex.com/shows/now-thats-bass/how-richard-jones-got-the-bryan-adams-gig-and-kept-getting-called-back)
13. [Interview: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Songwriting Magazine](https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/interviews/sophie-ellis-bextor)
14. [How Richard Jones Got the Bryan Adams Gig, Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/how-richard-jones-got-the-bryan-adams-gig-and/id1883405620?i=1000796168290)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Rock, metal, and popular-band musicians › Pop rock and power pop › Contemporary pop band musicians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license