Michael Geoffrey Jones (born 26 June 1955) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as co-founder and lead guitarist of punk rock band the Clash, until his dismissal by frontman Joe Strummer in 1983.

[1] He spent much of his early life living with his maternal grandmother, Stella Class, who was born in 1899 to Jewish parents in Russia and escaped the Russian pogroms by migrating to the United Kingdom.

I'd go to Liverpool or Newcastle or somewhere—sleep on the Town Hall steps, and bunk the fares on the trains, hide in the toilet when the ticket inspector came around.

By 1976, that band had broken up and remaining members Jones, Paul Simonon and Keith Levene were seeking a new direction.

Jones played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs from the band's inception until he was fired by Strummer and Simonon in 1983.

[11] After his expulsion from the Clash, Jones was a founding member of General Public, with vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger of the Beat.

Though he is listed in the credits of the band's 1984 debut studio album, All the Rage, as a member, Jones left General Public part way through the recording process and was replaced by Kevin White.

The band's debut studio album, This Is Big Audio Dynamite, was released the following year, with the song "E=MC²" getting heavy rotation in dance clubs, and both singles, "Medicine Show" and "E=MC2", charting in the UK.

Similar in many respects to Jones' earlier work in Big Audio Dynamite, Carbon/Silicon aims to break the traditional approach to rock and roll.

The first song written by Jones and James was entitled "MPFree", in which they expressed their willingness to embrace the technology of the internet and file sharing, in the interest of spreading music, rather than profit.

On seven consecutive Friday nights in January and February 2008 Carbon/Silicon played a series of gigs at the Inn on the Green, right under the Westway in Thorpe Close, between Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road, London.

As well as Carbon/Silicon there were many special guests, including appearances by Sex Pistols' Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, former Clash drummer Topper Headon and multi-instrumentalist and former Mescalero Tymon Dogg.

In the same year, he produced Theatre of Hate's debut studio album, Westworld, released in 1982 and written by Kirk Brandon.

Jones would also record and produce Aria of the Devil in 1982 by Theatre of Hate at Wessex Studios, which did not get released until 1998, when the master tapes were found by Kirk Brandon.

[citation needed] Jones is also credited with contributing guitar and vocals to "Mal Bicho", the lead track of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' tenth studio album Rey Azucar (1995).

[15] He also produced Down in Albion (2005), the debut studio album of former Libertines lead vocalist and guitarist Pete Doherty's subsequent band, Babyshambles.

[citation needed] At the NME Shockwave 2007 awards, Jones took to the stage and performed "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" with Primal Scream.

In late 2011, Jones agreed to play songs by the Clash live again, collaborating with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.

The Justice Tonight band have been joined onstage at different gigs by several other musicians sympathetic to the cause, including Billy Bragg and Paul Simonon.

Shane MacGowan joined them onstage in Phoenix Park when the Justice Tonight Band supported the Stone Roses as part of their Reunion Tour on 5 July 2012.

Jones collaborated with alternative rock group the Wallflowers as a guitarist and backing vocals for two tracks on their sixth studio album, Glad All Over (2012).

[20][21] Jones narrated the Flaming Lips' fifteenth studio album, King's Mouth, released on 20 April 2019, which is Record Store Day.