Wikipedia

Tom Fletcher

For other people named Tom Fletcher, see Tom Fletcher (disambiguation).

Thomas Michael Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English musician, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly,[1] in addition to being the group's founder.

Tom Fletcher
Fletcher in 2022
Fletcher in 2022
Background information
Birth nameThomas Michael Fletcher
Born (1985-07-17) 17 July 1985 (age 39)
Harrow, London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Author
  • composer
  • musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • YouTube vlogger
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • ukulele
Years active2001–present
Labels
Member ofMcFly
Formerly ofBusted
Spouse
​
(m. 2012)​

In his 20-year career as a professional songwriter, Fletcher has written 10 UK number one singles and 21 top-ten singles. He is credited as having written songs for One Direction, Busted, the Vamps and 5 Seconds of Summer.

Early life

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Fletcher was born on 17 July 1985, in Harrow, London.[citation needed] He attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London,[2] where, at the age of 13, he met Giovanna Falcone, whom he would later marry in 2012. He has a younger sister, Carrie Hope Fletcher, who is a musical theatre actress.[3] When he was 10 years old, 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 and starred in a commercial. In 1995, Fletcher made a small appearance in the video for the Mike The Mechanics single "Over My Shoulder".[4][5] When Fletcher was a schoolchild, he was schoolmates with Busted bassist Matt Willis.[6]

Musical career

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At a very young age, Fletcher began writing music commercially. He originally auditioned for band Busted,[7] but lost out on the place to Charlie Simpson after the record label Island Records decided the band should be a trio rather than a four-piece; Fletcher states that he was in the band "for about 24 hours."[8] This led to a job with the band's songwriting team, mainly because of the label's intrigue with his writing talents, Fletcher then got to know Busted band member James Bourne, which would then lead to a strong songwriting relationship between the two.[9] He has since stated that it was Bourne who taught him "how to structure a pop hit".[10][11]

McFly

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Main article: McFly

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, boy band for which they were intended.[12] Impressed with Jones's style, Fletcher 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 two months[13] to concentrate on writing together. During this time together Fletcher and Jones wrote most of their first album, Room on the 3rd Floor. Bassist Dougie Poynter and drummer Harry Judd were subsequently recruited via a classified advertisement. Fletcher came up with the idea to name the band after Marty McFly, the main character from his favorite film Back to the Future.[14] McFly then rose to fame after Busted helped launch them by inviting them to be the opening act on their tour in March 2004.[15]

In 2004, McFly made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, beating the Beatles's record for "the youngest band to have a debut album go straight to number one".[16] 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. A greatest hits album entitled Memory Lane: The Best of McFly which includes a number of B-sides from earlier albums, original demos of well known tracks as well as three new singles, was released in November 2012. As well as being the founding member of McFly, Fletcher plays rhythm guitar, shares lead vocals with Danny Jones, and sometimes undertakes the role of ukulele player and pianist.

Songwriting

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Fletcher has written or co-written 10 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 seven of the band's albums. Of McFly's four members, he has "the most songwriting credits and therefore the most money".[17]

Fletcher wrote "On a Rainbow", the official song of the 2012 Summer Olympics' mascots Wenlock and Mandeville.[18] The song features vocals from him and his sister Carrie Hope Fletcher. He also wrote the song "I Want" for One Direction's debut album Up All Night, and co-wrote (with Dougie Poynter and Danny Jones) "I Would" for their second album Take Me Home and "Don't Forget Where You Belong" for their third album Midnight Memories.[19] He has co-written several songs with James Bourne including "Chills in the Evening", recorded by V. He also co-wrote "High Hopes" along with all four members of the Vamps for their debut album, Meet the Vamps. Fletcher is also credited as having co-written the 5 Seconds of Summer track "Try Hard". The song was originally released on YouTube on 1 June 2013, and in 2014 featured as a B-Side to their hit single "Don't Stop". He also cowrote the song "Own This Town" with the British band Chapter 13 for their Britain's Got Talent semi-final performance.

Children's books

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Fletcher released his first children's book in 2012. Co-written with band-mate Dougie Poynter, The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas sold more than 72,000 copies and became the most popular debut children's book of 2012.[20][21] A follow-up titled The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet was released on 29 August 2013.

Fletcher released his first solo novel, The Christmasaurus, on 6 October 2016, about a young boy called William Trundle who goes on a magical adventure on Christmas Eve. On 6 October 2017, a musical version of the book, entitled The Christmasaurus: Musical Edition, was released.[22] On 21 March 2019, Fletcher released his second novel and released a Lead single from the soundtrack to THE CREAKERS: THE MUSICAL EDITION called "Don't Turn Out The Light" (featuring Chapter 13) from Britain's Got Talent, along with a music video.[23]

Fletcher released The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch in October 2019, a sequel to his first solo novel The Christmasaurus. In November 2020, a series of Fletcher's books appeared in McDonald's Happy Meals as activity packs, including stickers. In 2020, he also released 'The Danger Gang' a debut novel bestseller, also releasing an audiobook read by Harry Potter star, Tom Felton. The book is about a boy named Franky who moves house.

Other work

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In 2008, Fletcher contributed to the short story anthology Wow! 366.[24] Fletcher and the other members of McFly released their memoir Unsaid Things... Our Story in the autumn of 2012. [25]

In June 2011, Fletcher appeared on the ITV game show The Cube and became the third person to win £100,000. He gave the money to Comic Relief and BIRT. Later that year, he appeared as a gorilla for bandmate Dougie Poynter to ask five questions for the celebrity chest on episode 11 of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. He was also there to greet Poynter on the red carpet after he had won the series. In 2013, he took part in All Star Family Fortunes and All Star Mr and Mrs. All four members of McFly played Celebrity Deal or No Deal for charity in 2012 as well. In November 2013, he appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks with Emma Willis. Fletcher has been a guest on Celebrity Juice a total of three times. In 2016, he was a judge on ITV's Lorraine's competition to find a new children's author.[26]

Fletcher has a strong YouTube audience with just over 633,000 subscribers. He was a frequent vlogger, filming his daily life and his life while he was on tour with McFly. He stopped regularly vlogging after the birth of his third child Max.

Between September and November 2021 Fletcher was a contestant on the nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing partnered with professional dancer Amy Dowden.[27] [28] On 21 November they were the eighth couple to be eliminated from the contest, after a dance-off against Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.[29] In 2024 Fletcher featured as a coach on thirteenth series of The Voice UK alongside Danny Jones in a duo chair.[30]

On 12 December 2023, it was announced that Fletcher will write the music and lyrics for Paddington: The Musical based on the Paddington Bear stories by Michael Bond and the film series. The musical is currently in development and planned to premiere in the UK in 2025.

Personal life

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On 18 April 2011, Fletcher became engaged to his schoolmate and longtime girlfriend Giovanna Falcone.[31] They were married on 12 May 2012. In January 2013, Fletcher uploaded a video to YouTube, titled My Wedding Speech, in which he sang to the tunes of several of McFly's most successful songs during his speech: the video has received over 24 million views.[32]

Giovanna is also a YouTube vlogger and an author. Her books, Billy and Me, You're the One That I Want, Christmas with Billy and Me, Dream a Little Dream, and Dream a Little Christmas Dream are published by Penguin's Michael Joseph.[33] She also released a book in 2017 about motherhood titled, Happy Mum, Happy Baby. She also blogs weekly for Hello! magazine.

It was announced on Fletcher's YouTube channel[34] on 29 October 2013 that the couple were expecting their first child, with a video titled, We Have Some News....[35] In March 2014 their son was born. Fletcher announced on 3 September 2015, again on YouTube, that his wife Giovanna was expecting their second child, by means of a video entitled 'Player 2'.[36] In February 2016 their second son was born. During both pregnancies, Fletcher and his wife Giovanna took pictures every day throughout the nine months of pregnancy. They created another YouTube video to announce the arrival of their first son, which has over 16 million views.[37] On 3 March 2018 it was announced that their third child was due in September, but their third son was born in August 2018.

Fletcher's younger sister is Carrie Hope Fletcher, an actress, author, singer and YouTube vlogger. Carrie joined him to produce the 2012 Olympic Mascot song, "On a Rainbow".[38] Carrie also joined as a part of the cast of The Christmasaurus Live, a live production of Tom's debut children's novel of the same name. She played the part of Brenda Payne and sang two solo songs, "Thin Ice" and "I've Been a Good Girl".

In McFly's autobiography Unsaid Things, Fletcher discussed his diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which he has stated was a great influence over McFly's second album, Wonderland. He has also described his struggles with his eating disorder, weight, and obsessive dieting.[39][40][41][42]

In June 2021, Fletcher and his wife apologised for using the government scheme to furlough an employee. Fletcher and wife Giovanna released a statement on social media clarifying that the money had been returned and admitted that "it was a huge error of judgement."[43]

Discography

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With McFly

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Main article: McFly discography

Solo Singles

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Year Title Album
2017 "Afraid of Heights" The Christmasaurus: Musical Edition
"Don't Know What It Is" [44]
2019 "Don't Turn Out The Light (featuring 13)[23] THE CREAKERS: THE MUSICAL EDITION [23]

Music videos

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Year Song Director
2017 "Afraid of Heights" David Spearing
"Don't Know What It Is"
2019 "Don't Turn Out The Light"

Bibliography

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  • Two short stories in WOW! 366 (2008, Scholastic)
  • The Christmasaurus (2016, Puffin)
  • There's a Monster in your Book (2017, Puffin)
  • The Creakers (2017, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus: The Musical Edition (2017, Puffin)
  • Brain Freeze (2018, Puffin)
  • There's a Dragon in your Book (2018, Puffin)
  • The Creakers: The Musical Edition (2019, Puffin)
  • There's an Alien in your Book (2019, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch (2019, Puffin)
  • There's an Elf in your Book (2019, Puffin)
  • There's a Superhero in your Book (2020, Puffin)
  • There's a Witch in your Book (2020, Puffin)
  • The Danger Gang (2020, Puffin)
  • There's a Wolf in your Book (2021, Puffin)
  • Who's in your Audiobook? (2021, Puffin)
  • There's a Unicorn in your Book (2021, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus Picture Book (2021, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus and the Naughty List (2021, Puffin)
  • There's a Bear in your Book (2022, Puffin)
  • Space Band (2022, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus Cracker (2022, Puffin)
  • There's a Dinosaur in your Book (2023, Puffin)
  • A Christmasaurus Carol (2023, Puffin)
  • There's a Little Chick in your Book (2024, Puffin)
  • The Christmasaurus and the Night Before Christmas (October 2024)
  • There's a Little Snowman in your Book (October 2024)
  • There's a Bunny in your Book (January 2025)
  • There's a Little Puppy in your Book (May 2025)

With McFly

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  • Unsaid Things...Our Story (2012, Bantam Press)

With Dougie Poynter

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  • The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas (2012, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet (2013, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past (2014, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Lot (2015, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped the Bed (2015, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped Daddy (2016, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Rainbow (2016, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Princess (2018, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Pirate (2020, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped Halloween (2022, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped Easter (2023, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Reindeer (2023, Puffin)
  • The Dinosaur that Pooped a Superhero (2024, Puffin)

With Giovanna Fletcher

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  • Eve of Man: Eve of Man Book 1 (2018, Michael Joseph)
  • The Eve Illusion: Eve of Man Book 2 (2020, Michael Joseph)
  • Eve of Man: Book 3 (February 2025, Michael Joseph)

References

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  1. ^ "Tom Fletcher biography". McFly Official website. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
  2. ^ "Sylvia Young Theatre School (Ex-students)". Sylvia Young Theatre School. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  3. ^ Longman, Will (12 April 2018). "Carrie Hope Fletcher to star in Heathers the Musical in London". LondonTheatre.co.uk.
  4. ^ Judd, Harry [@mcflyharry] (17 March 2017). ".@BBCRadio2 @achrisevans Trivia.... @TomFletcher was the kid that "looked over his shoulder" in your music video! True Story" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "7 of Paul Carrack's best songs, from Mike the Mechanics to Squeeze". Smooth. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  6. ^ "McFly's Tom Fletcher and Busted's Matt Willis drop off their children at the same school » Hot Fast News". 7 September 2022.
  7. ^ "McFly Interview by CMU's Chris Cooke". The Beats Bar. December 2005. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  8. ^ O'Sullivan, Kyle (18 September 2021). "Tom Fletcher was originally in Busted but was booted out after just 24 hours". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. ^ Virgin Media Television (14 October 2022). "Tom Fletcher almost joined Busted instead of McFly 😱". YouTube. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  10. ^ Warner, Sam (18 November 2013). "10 Things About... McBusted". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. ^ Barrett, Jessica (17 November 2016). "Busted: Why we rebranded as a synthpop act". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  12. ^ Petridis, Alexis (23 July 2004). "Mad about the boys". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  13. ^ "Debut McFly album track by track". Mcflyofficial.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  14. ^ Akinwumi, Stella (7 October 2021). "Tom Fletcher reveals film Back To The Future inspired band name McFly". Metro. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Flying visit to Marlborough by top boy band". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Youngest double toppers". Guinness World Records. 10 September 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  17. ^ Pidd, Helen (30 September 2008). "The Party's Over". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  18. ^ London2012 (11 October 2011). "Mascot song behind the scenes with Tom and Carrie Fletcher – London 2012". London 2012 Official YouTube Channel. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Renshaw, David (14 September 2011). "One Direction 'Can't Imagine Splitting Up'". Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  20. ^ Vincent, Alice (2 October 2013). "Telegraph Interview". Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  21. ^ Jamieson, Natalie. "McFly's Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter pen kid's book". BBC. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  22. ^ The Christmasaurus: The Musical Edition: Book and Soundtrack: Amazon.co.uk: Fletcher, Tom, Devries, Shane: 9780241336847: Books. ASIN 0241336848.
  23. ^ a b c "Don't Turn Out The Light (feat. Chapter 13)". YouTube. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Press Release: Wow! 366". Scholastic. 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  25. ^ "McFly Announce Plans For Biography, Discuss Jessie J Dreams". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  26. ^ Eyre, Charlotte (11 February 2016). "ITV's Lorraine launches children's writing comp". The Bookseller. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  27. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing - Series 19: Launch Show". Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. ^ Williams, Kathryn (26 September 2021). "Strictly's Amy Dowden and Tom Fletcher test positive for Covid". WalesOnline. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  29. ^ "The latest star to leave Strictly has been named". The Independent. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  30. ^ "The Voice UK confirms new coaches and big format twist for 2024". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  31. ^ "4. Tom Fletcher - McFly - Pop Quotes 22 April 2011 - Capital". Capitalfm.com. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  32. ^ "My Wedding Speech". YouTube. 6 January 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  33. ^ "BOOKS BY ME!". Giovannasworld.com. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  34. ^ "Tom Fletcher". YouTube. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  35. ^ "Pregnancy Announcement". YouTube. 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Player 2". YouTube. 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  37. ^ "Bump to Buzz". YouTube. 20 March 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  38. ^ "McFly's Tom Fletcher and sister Carrie perform the official olympic mascot song On A Rainbow!". YouTube. 18 November 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  39. ^ "Tom Fletcher | Tom Fletcher Struggled With Weight Obsession Before Bipolar Diagnosis". Contactmusic.com. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  40. ^ "McFly's Tom Fletcher: 'I Was Diagnosed With Bipolar Two Years Ago' – Celebrity Gossip, News & Photos, Movie Reviews, Competitions". Entertainmentwise.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  41. ^ "McFly's Tom Fletcher: 'I hated being the fat one'". Digitalspy.co.uk. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  42. ^ "Tom McFly reveals weight issues". Rte.ie. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  43. ^ "McFly star Tom Fletcher and wife Giovanna apologise for using furlough scheme - 'it was a huge error of judgment'". Sky News. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  44. ^ Tom Fletcher (15 December 2017). "Tom Fletcher on Twitter: "Don't Know What It Is - Official Music Video"". Twitter.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
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