Doug Pinnick, often stylized as dUg Pinnick, is known first and foremost as the soulful co-lead vocalist and bassist for hard rockers King's X, a genre-defying American rock band that employs a compelling blend of melodic Beatlesque harmonies, metallic riffing, and prog rock detours. Since debuting in 1983, the group has released over 15 albums, but Pinnick has proven to be as versatile with his projects as he is with his playing style, collaborating with a wide array of artists like Dream Theater, Living Colour, Jeff Ament, George Lynch, and Steve Stevens. In addition to enjoying a prolific solo career -- he often records under the monikers Poundhound and dUg -- Pinnick has been a member of several bands outside of King's X including Supershine, the Mob, Razr13, Tres Mts., 3rd Ear Experience, KXM, and Grinder Blues.

Born September 3, 1950, in Joliet, Illinois, Pinnick discovered rock & roll through such greats as Sly the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin, while he borrowed from gospel for his singing style. When a gig backing up Christian guitarist Phil Keaggy broke up in the early '80s, Pinnick formed a new band with fellow ex-Keaggy member Jerry Gaskill (drums) and guitarist Ty Tabor. It would take several years of playing covers in bars throughout the South before the new band would click musically and eventually settle on a name: King's X. Signing to Megaforce/Atlantic in 1987, the trio became a favorite with the metal and progressive rock crowd; their music also contained elements of alternative in their hard rock, long before it became in vogue during the '90s. Pinnick is one of the few bassists of hard rock who uses a 12-string bass regularly, which is a major ingredient to the magical King's X sound. After six critically acclaimed releases, Pinnick released his first solo album, Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music, in 1998 under the alias Poundhound. In 2000, Pinnick formed another side project, Supershine, which included ex-members of Sabbath sludge-rockers Trouble (guitarist Bruce Franklin and drummer Jeff Olson) -- issuing a self-titled release on Metal Blade the same year, while a second Poundhound album followed in 2001, titled Pineappleskunk.

Pinnick opted not to use the Poundhound moniker for his next solo outing, 2005's Emotional Animal, and took the same approach on 2007's Strum Sum Up, the latter of which featured a slew of guest players, including Steve Stevens, Hal Sparks, and Alain Johannes, among others. The year 2011 heralded the release of Three Mountains, the debut outing from Tres Mts., a side project that saw Pinnick team up with Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) and Richard Stuverud (Fastbacks), and in 2013 he issued his fourth solo LP, Naked, along with the eponymous debut from Pinnick Gales Pridgen, a collaboration with blues-rocker Eric Gales (aka Raw Dog) and ex-Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen. Pinnick Gales Pridgen's sophomore effort, PGP 2, arrived the following year, as did the eponymous debut from KXM, an all-star group featuring former Dokken guitarist George Lynch and Korn drummer Ray Luzier, and the eponymous debut from Grinder Blues, a hard rock and blues trio consisting of Pinnick, guitarist and vocalist Jabo Bihlman, and Scot Bihlman on drums. In 2018 Pinnick joined MC5's Wayne Kramer on a 35-date tour of North America for the 50th anniversary of the band's debut, Kick Out the Jams. In 2019 KXM issued Circle of the Dolls, and in 2021 Pinnick released Joy Bomb, his fifth album and first set of new solo material since 2013's Naked, as well as the Grinder Blues effort, El Dos.

Along with his work with King's X, Poundhound, and Supershine, Pinnick has also guested on albums by other artists, including 24-7 Spyz's 6, Dream Theater's Falling Into Infinity, and Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus; he's produced a pair of albums for Geek (which includes the two sons of King's X drummer Gaskill), and has appeared on tribute albums for Jimi Hendrix (In from the Storm), Van Halen (Little Guitars: A Tribute To), and Metallica (Metallic Assault: A Tribute To). ~ Greg Prato & James Christopher Monger, Rovi