[3][4] He has been described by the AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop",[1] and he performed at Live Aid in 1985.

[1] After returning to the UK, Jones attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in the mid-1970s while playing in various bands.

[6] He met Buddhist practitioner Bill Bryant, who wrote lyrics for some of Jones's songs and was a major influence in this period.

[13] After a BBC Radio 1 session, Jones obtained support slots with China Crisis and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) before signing to Warner Music Group (WMG) in mid-1983.

[1] He has cited influences such as OMD (whose song "Enola Gay" was covered by Jones in early live sets), Keith Emerson and Stevie Wonder.

He had four more hits over the next twelve months and a UK number one album, Human's Lib, which eventually went double platinum.

The song also appeared in the film Better Off Dead (1985) and the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006).

[15] In February 1985, Jones appeared with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Thomas Dolby at the 27th Grammy Awards ceremony; the group performed a medley of material from all four artists.

[15] In 1985, Jones released his second studio album, Dream into Action,[1] which included backup work by the trio Afrodiziak.

One of the album's tracks, "No One Is to Blame", was later re-recorded, featuring Phil Collins as drummer and producer, and performing backing vocals.

[1] In July 1985, Jones performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide and Seek" and playing piano.

[citation needed] In June 1988, Jones performed at Amnesty International's Festival of Youth at the Milton Keynes Bowl.

[17] Jones's subsequent album, Cross That Line (1989), performed poorly in the UK,[12] but the 1989 singles "Everlasting Love" (his second US Adult Contemporary number 1 hit after "No One Is to Blame") and "The Prisoner" charted in the US.

With his 10-year tenure on the Warner Music label at an end, a greatest-hits compilation The Best of Howard Jones was released in 1993.

[15] On 20 September 2003, Jones played a 20th anniversary concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, commemorating the release of his first single.

Jones was also featured on Katrina Carlson's cover of "No One Is to Blame", which entered the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2007.

[citation needed] In October 2006, Jones released "Building Our Own Future" as a podsafe track, as one of several established artists looking to use podcasts as a new means of promoting their music and tours.

Jones performed another acoustic set, with other 1980s acts at the Retrofest, on 1 September 2007 at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland.

[24] Jones is a member of Sōka Gakkai International, and is musical director of one of its choirs, the Glorious Life Chorus.

He returned to Australia again in 2009, this time accompanied by vocalist Laura Clapp and music technologist Robbie Bronnimann.

[25] He continues to tour, and played the 'Big Hair Affair 2009' on 1 August 2009 at the Ryedale Arena, Pickering, North Yorkshire.

[citation needed] During an interview with the Stuck in the '80s podcast after the album's release, Jones said "Soon You'll Go" was inspired by his daughter's upcoming departure to university, but that the song has come to take on broader meaning about cherishing the time he has with people.

[citation needed] In 2012, he appeared on "The Song That Changed My Life" on BYUtv, the cable station for Brigham Young University.

[citation needed] In 2018, Jones joined fellow musician Steve Hogarth of Marillion by being present at the unveiling of a sculpture in tribute to David Bowie in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

[35] In the late 1980s, Jones began practising Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International; he has credited his daily practice of chanting "Nam myoho renge kyo" (I devote myself to the Lotus Sutra) since 1991 as "having a profoundly positive effect on my life.