| Tom Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Michael Fletcher |
| Born | 17 July 1985 Harrow, London, England |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Island, Super |
| Associated acts | McFly, James Bourne, Busted |
| Website | www.mcfly.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul Gibson SG Gibson Flying V Fender Stratocaster Music Man Sterling |
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Thomas Michael "Tom" Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as one of the lead vocalists and guitarists of English pop rock band McFly,[1] in addition to being the group's founder and principal songwriter. In his nearly ten-year career as a professional songwriter, Fletcher has penned ten UK number one singles and twenty-one top ten singles.
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Fletcher was born in Harrow, London, to a working-class family.[2] His father, who worked at Kodak and played in local bands, and mother, a special needs teacher, encouraged and supported his love of music from a young age.[3] He has a younger sister, Carrie Fletcher. When he was 10, Fletcher starred as the main role in Oliver! at the London Palladium alongside Jim Dale as Fagin. He then went on to do a documentary about HIV for schools.
Fletcher attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, a co-educational independent school in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster in west London, on a scholarship.[4] [5]
At 14, Fletcher began writing music commercially.[6] He originally auditioned for Busted[7], but lost out on the place to Charlie Simpson after the record label Island decided the band should be a trio rather than a four-piece; Fletcher states that he was in the band "for approximately 24-hours." Though the record label decided against offering Fletcher a place in Busted, they were intrigued by his songwriting talents and invited him to join Busted member (and already accomplished songwriter) James Bourne on the band's songwriting team. Fletcher has since stated that it was Bourne who taught him how to "properly" structure songs, and how to "come up with good, poppy melodies."
During the writing project for Busted's second album A Present for Everyone, Fletcher was asked by the record label if he was available to film auditions for a new band, V. It was at this time that he and Danny Jones met for the first time; Jones went to the audition mistaking the band to be a Busted-esque band, rather than the conventional, all-singing, all-dancing, boyband, for which they were intended.[8] Fletcher was impressed with Jones's style, and so invited him to write with him and Bourne. When writing projects for Busted had come to an end, the two began collaborating for their own (as yet unnamed) band, and, eventually, moved into the InterContinental Hotel in London for 2 months[9] to concentrate on writing together. Bassist (Dougie Poynter) and drummer (Harry Judd) were subsequently recruited via a classified advertisement in NME magazine.[7] Fletcher suggested McFly for the band's name due to his love for the American science fiction/comedy trilogy Back to the Future and Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly.[10]
In 2004, McFly made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, beating The Beatles's record for "the youngest band to have a début album go straight to number one".[11] Fletcher has written the majority of McFly's songs with Jones and Poynter, with occasional contributions by Judd; Bourne has also assisted with songwriting on occasions. As of 15 November 2010, McFly have released five studio albums and two compilation albums.
Fletcher has written or co-written ten UK number-one singles: "Crashed The Wedding," "Who's David?," and "Thunderbirds" for Busted; and "Five Colours in Her Hair," "Obviously," "All About You," "I'll Be OK," "Please, Please," "Star Girl," and "Transylvania" for McFly. He co-wrote eight of the songs on A Present for Everyone, as well as all but one ("Not Alone," written by Jones) of the tracks on McFly's debut album, Room on the 3rd Floor. He is the primary writer on the majority of tracks on all five of the band's albums. Of McFly's four members, he has "the most songwriting credits and therefore the most money."[12]
Tom Fletcher wrote "On a Rainbow," the official song of the 2012 Summer Olympics' mascots Wenlock and Mandeville.[13] The song features vocals from him and his sister Carrie. He also wrote the song "I Want" for One Direction's new album.[14]
Fletcher has also written two short stories for the book Wow! 366. Fletcher also wrote and co-wrote songs on the album Up All Night for the UK Band One Direction.
On 18 April 2011, Fletcher became engaged to his longtime girlfriend Giovanna Falcone,the sister of The Only Way Is Essex star Mario Falcone. He proposed to Giovanna Falcone at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where they first met.[15] He currently lives in London with Giovanna, and his three cats Marvin, Princess Leia and Aurora. [16]
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