Originally from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, he now lives with his family in Maidenhead, England.
He was born John Howard Jones on February 23 1955. His birthplace was Southampton, England.
When he was young he used to give piano lessons. One of his clients was a girl named Jan Smith who he later married. Whilst working with her, a vehicle crashed into their van injuring Jan. She claimed compensation and she used the money to buy Howard a synthesiser. The shop delivered two by mistake and Howard liked the combination of the two so much, that he paid for the extra one. The shop knows him as "Honest Howard"!
He hit the charts in 1983 with a song called "New Song" which entered the British charts and made it into the top ten. He also had a number of other hits during the early 1980s.
He has worked with many artists in his career including Nick Beggs, Robin Boult, Kevin Wilkinson, Phil Collins.