Aled Jones plays Walking In The Air and says he owes The Snowman creator Raymond Briggs ‘debt of gratitude’ following death aged 88

metro.co.uk:

Aled Jones has paid a heartfelt tribute to The Snowman creator Raymond Briggs following his death at the age of 88.Illustrator Briggs is best-known for creating the beloved, wordless children’s picture book The Snowman, which he released in 1978.Welsh singer Jones, meanwhile, rose to fame as a teenager after he sang Walking in the Air for the film adaption of Briggs’ creation.Composed by Howard Blake, Walking In The Air became the pinnacle moment of the famous film, released in 1982 and commissioned by Channel 4.The song regularly shoots up the charts each Christmas and helped make Jones a household name, with the singer now saying he owes Briggs ‘a debt of gratitude.’Speaking on his Classic FM radio show on Wednesday, Jones paid tribute to Briggs, saying: ‘What a legacy he leaves behind.‘His books have touched millions of people all around the world, and what a debt of gratitude I owe to his greatest creation of all.

Thank you, Raymond.’The Masked Singer star then played the classic song in memory of the late author.The song’s composer Blake previously opened up on the magic of Walking In The Air in an interview with Metro.co.uk, where he explained he had written the song months earlier but didn’t know what to do with it.But as soon as he saw the hand-drawn images of the little boy and the Snowman, he knew: ‘That’s where that tune belongs’.‘It was a match made in heaven,’ the musician said. ‘It was meant to be.’He went on: ‘[Walking In The Air] is a very special piece.

I had to wait for the right place, I knew it was very special.‘I knew right from the moment I saw the film, and when we put that music to that film, it just created some kind of magic.’A statement from Briggs’ family, released on Wednesday after the news.