[1] David John Jones was born in Holloway, London, Middlesex, to a family of Welsh farmers.

He moved to Wales at the age of three and was brought up by his uncle and aunt on their dairy farm in Brynchwith, Llangwyryfon.

Jones said that he deliberately failed his 11-plus exam to avoid going to grammar school because he had heard that there was a lot of homework.

Jones was an accomplished tenor and won the blue riband prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1970.

As a well-known figure in Wales, Jones was regularly lampooned in the Welsh satirical cartoon series Cnex.