Michael Geoffrey Jones (born 26 June 1955) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the co-founder of the Clash until 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the band Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James (formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik) since 2002 and was part of the Gorillaz live band for a world tour in 2010–2011. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band. Early life Michael Geoffrey Jones was born on 26 June 1955 in Wandsworth, London, England, to a Welsh father, Tommy Jones, and a Russian Jewish mother, Renee Zegansky. Jones' maternal grandmother Stella was born in 1899 to Jewish parents in Russia and escaped the Russian pogroms by migrating to the United Kingdom. He spent much of his early life living with his maternal grandmother, Stella Class, in South London. Jones' cousin is Grant Shapps, the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield. Jones went to Strand School in South London and West London School of Art And Design, because "[he] thought that's how you get into bands and stuff". He started gaining recognition as a guitarist in the early 1970s with his glam rock band, the Delinquents. A short time later, he met Tony James and formed the proto-punk band London SS. By 1976, that band had broken up and remaining members Jones, Paul Simonon and Keith Levene were seeking a new direction. The Clash When he was 21, he and Paul Simonon were introduced to Joe Strummer by Bernie Rhodes in a squat in Shepherd's Bush. The band rehearsed in a former railway warehouse in Camden Town and The Clash was formed. Jones played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs from the band's inception until he was fired by Strummer and Simonon in 1983. One of the songs he wrote, "Train in Vain," was allegedly about Jones' relationship with Viv Albertine, guitarist of the Slits. Jones' lack of punctuality played a major role in his dismissal from the band. Jones agreed to give a rare interview about the disintegration of the Clash and the reasons behind his dismissal from 'his own band' in Danny Garcia's 2012 documentary film and book The Rise and Fall of the Clash. For his time with the Clash, Jones, along with the rest of the band,