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Dougie Poynter
Birth name	Dougie Lee Poynter
Born	November 30, 1987 (1987-11-30) (age 20)
Origin	Corringham, Essex, England
Genre(s)	Pop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar Vocals
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Island
Associated acts	McFly
Website	McFly website

Dougie Lee Poynter^[1] (born November 30, 1987^[2] in Corringham, Essex, England) is the bass player and backing vocalist in the British pop band McFly, along with fellow band members Danny Jones, Tom Fletcher and Harry Judd. McFly rose to fame after former band Busted helped launch them by inviting them to tour in March 2004. He joined the band when he was fifteen.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Personal life 3 McFly 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Early life

Poynter was born in Orsett Hospital;^[1] he was brought up in Corringham, Essex. Before joining McFly, Dougie lived with his mother Sam, younger sister Jazmine (more commonly called Jazzie, born in 1990), two lizards (Buffy and Zukie), two cats, two dogs (Fraser and Maggie), a hamster and a frog (Ned). He used to breed lizards, earning himself the nickname 'Lizard King' at school (he was also known as 'Grunger', for his different music and fashion tastes as compared to the other students). He wasn't quite popular at school. He was in a punk rock band called Ataiz. His decision to leave for London was clearly taken with mixed sentiment amongst Poynter's friends. From the old Ataiz Website:

"Everything was beginning to look up for the band and they were on the brink of sending their demos off and seriously trying to get signed just after their East Thurrock gig when suddenly Dougie announced that he was leaving to join another band called mcfly [sic], who were well marketed and produced by a large, expensive label called Universal Island Records. This was a shock to the band and a shame as it was always assumed that if they'd make it, they'd make it together."

[edit] Personal life

Poynter is a publicly shy person, rarely commenting during earlier McFly interviews. However, he has recently admitted this was mostly down to his dad's abandonment a few weeks before he joined McFly. Despite this shy exterior, he is also known to be the bubbliest band member and, according to fellow bandmates, often says things without thinking. Tom Fletcher has on more than one occasion stated concern that the bassist will one day land the band into trouble by saying something offensive or upsetting to someone or in front of an audience. It is notable that his shyness has now mostly abated, best shown by an interview "naked" in a sauna on T4's Popworld^{[citation needed]}

Poynter has four tattoos - a star on each ankle, the word "Athletes" across the top of his foot (as in Athlete's Foot; the other McFly members have similar tattoos), and a large space-themed scene - complete with rocket and lizard-skull - over his upper right chest, which he got to celebrate his eighteenth birthday; in the summer of 2006 he had the tattoo extended down his right arm.

In 2005, Poynter bought himself a bearded dragon lizard (Jerry) to add to his already favoured dragon (Zukie) and after his other dragon (Buffy) had unfortunately died. To add to this small 'zoo' (as he named it) of animals he has bought two iguanas, two snakes, two tortoises and most recently a chocolate labrador puppy named Flea. He has admitted to being allergic to horses, budgies and hamsters and, when once asked what his favourite type of pet was in an interview, replied: 'Well, it's hardly going to be a cat, is it?'.

Poynter currently lives in a rented apartment situated directly below bandmate Danny Jones (singer/lyricist/guitarist) and on the same road as bandmates Harry Judd (drummer) and Tom Fletcher (singer/lyricist/guitarist). Poynter is an open skateboarding fan and often wears skate/surf brand clothing (most notoriously Billabong, Hurley and Adio Nixon) to highlight this.

[edit] McFly

Poynter plays the bass guitar, provides backing vocals and also has solo vocals in songs such as 'Too Close For Comfort', 'Nothing' and Ignorance, which he wrote. Also he wrote the song 'Silence Is A Scary Sound' with some input from previous bandmates in Ataiz; the song was debuted on McFLY's 2005 arena tour (Wonderland). As well as this, he also wrote the song 'Transylvania' (co-written with Tom Fletcher), the double A-side with Baby's Coming Back. This was the band's first single to feature Dougie on lead vocals, and more recently has solely penned the B-side to the single The Heart Never Lies, which is called Ignorance. The song is heavily influenced by Poynter's idols (Blink-182, Simple Plan ect) which becomes obvious when listening to it; it has been commented several times that the song is 'nothing like' McFLY's usual springy, bubble-gum pop tunes, and is perhaps even leaning towards a more 'emo' (post-hardcore)/punk sound.

Dougie has played bass since "before he can remember", according to one interview, he later specified this age at being, 'about thirteen'. Fellow McFly members Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher recall Dougie as being by far the best technical bassist they auditioned - and before joining McFly, was in a punk band called Ataiz. He once did an Ataiz gig in just his boxer shorts.

Poynter is generally considered the shyest member of the band, however, has over the years, become more adept at speaking in front of a camera; this was highlighted when in 2006 he stripped in the video for song Please, Please, and also on stage at G-A-Y. It has recently been said that the reason he was so quiet at the beginning of Mcfly was due to his parents divorce. It has also been said that Dougie often, 'says things without thinking', and therefore it is better that he does not talk.

Poynter plays a Mark Hoppus Signature Fender Bass as well as a customized Ernie Ball Sterling.^{[citation needed]} His favourite band, Blink 182, provides an insight to the sometimes punk-based sound of McFly's music; his favourite song is, according to his fansite biography, Blink 182's Don't Tell Me That It's Over, with other favourties including I Miss You, Down and Feeling This . His favourite male singer is Tom DeLonge (from Blink 182), with Amy Lee from the Evanescence being his favourite female singer - however he has also been known to name other female artists as 'favourites'. His first gig was "Wet Wet Wet at Wembley."

At the T4 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party in 2005, Poynter won the award for "Top Mop" and in 2006 he won the Virgin award for "Most Fanciable Male", with McFly winning "Best Group".

[edit] External links

• McFly official site
• Dougie-Poynter.com

[edit] References

v • d • e McFly
Band Members	Tom Fletcher  · Danny Jones  · Harry Judd  · Dougie Poynter
Albums	Room on the 3rd Floor  · Wonderland  · Just My Luck (US)  · Motion in the Ocean  · All the Greatest Hits
Singles	"5 Colours in Her Hair"  · "Obviously"  · "That Girl"  · "Room on the 3rd Floor"  · "All About You/You've Got a Friend"  · "I'll Be OK"  · "I Wanna Hold You"  · "Ultraviolet/Ballad of Paul K"  · "Don't Stop Me Now/Please, Please"  · "Star Girl"  · "Sorry's Not Good Enough/Friday Night"  · "Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania"  · "The Heart Never Lies"
DVDs	The Wonderland Tour 2005  · Motion in the Ocean Tour 2006  · All The Greatest Hits (The DVD)
Related topics	Discography  · Island Records  · Just My Luck