Walking in the Air

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Walking in the Air is a song written by English composer Howard Blake around 1970. It was made for the 1982 animated film The Snowman, based on Raymond Briggs’s 1978 children’s book. The Snowman tells the story of a boy and a snowman who comes to life and fly to the North Pole, with the song guiding their journey. In the film, the song is sung by Peter Auty, a choirboy from St Paul’s Cathedral.

The track was reissued in 1985 on Stiff Records. Earlier, in 1985, a Toys "R" Us TV advert used a cover version, and people thought Auty’s voice had broken. Howard Blake then suggested 14-year-old Welsh singer Aled Jones. Jones’s version reached number five on the UK singles chart in December 1985 and made him famous. Because Auty was not credited in the film, many people mistakenly think Jones sang in the film.

Since then, more than forty artists have performed Walking in the Air in many different styles. In a 2012 UK poll, Jones’s version was voted 13th in The Nation’s Favourite Christmas Song on ITV.