Australian rock star, major event director, writer and raconteur Ignatius Jones has died. He was 67 years old.
Over five decades Jones was a central figure in Australian entertainment, first as a performer and later as an artistic director of large-scale events including the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the Sydney Olympics – alongside David Atkins, the Vancouver Winter Olympics opening, while he also wrote the show The Man from Snowy River – the Arena Spectacular.
Born Juan Ignacio Rafaelo Lorenzo Trápaga y Esteban in the Philippines, his family moved to Australia when he was a young child.
His sister Monica was born a few years later, and both siblings developed an interest in dance, music and performance. While Ignatius adopted the surname Jones for his career, his sister later found fame as a singer and Play School presenter.
In 1976 Ignatius became the lead singer of the band Jimmy and the Boys and they quickly became one of the most successful live acts in Australia. They made their mark with a cover of The Kinks anthem to non-conformity, I’m Not Like everybody Else.
The highlight of their career though came with the hit song They Won’t Let My Girlfriend Talk to Me, which was co-written with Tim Finn.
In 1982 Jones put out some solo singles which were hugely popular at the time with the gay community both in Australia and on the west coast of America. He later contributed tracks to the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack.
He later formed the jazz band Pardon Me Boys, and later Monica and the Moonchers with sister Monica Trápaga. Along the way he also spent time as a music writer and editor, and also had quite a few acting roles.
His greatest success though came with creating huge events including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and for six years coordinated Sydney’s massive New Year’s Eve celebrations.
He also served as the Artistic Director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras from 1022 -2015, and the Creative director of Vivid Sydney from 2011- 2019.
In October 2018 he married his long-term partner, choreographer Novy Bereber. The same year he was also awarded the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours.
The couple retired in 2022 and relocated to The Philippines. His family confirmed his passing saying he’d died after a short illness.
They said his family and friends would remember him as a bob-vivant, a lively raconteur, and a real Renaissance man, immensely passionately knowledgeable in history and the arts.
He is survived by his husband Novy, his mother Margot Martin, his brother Luis Miguel, sisters Rocio and Monica, and what his family described as “a gaggle of nieces and nephews”
