Busted’s Struggles: Addiction, Conflicts, and Health Issues Amid McFly Tour Chaos

It’s been 25 years since Busted burst onto the scene and changed the face of the music industry. 

As a three-piece boy band who played their own instruments and wrote their own songs they were a breath of fresh air in a world dominated by bands pedalling out mulchy ballads and cheesy dance routines. 

Many have credited James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson with ushering in a new wave of pop rock at the turn of the century – with bands such as The Vamps and 5 Seconds of Summer citing them as their musical inspiration. 

Most notably, they helped nurture the careers of McFly, taking the band on tour to introduce them to the public before later joining forces in the supergroup McBusted. 

The relationship between the pop-rock groups endured, with Busted set to join Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd on tour this month. 

Yet this week fans were left devastated when James, 42, announced he’d had to pull out as a result of a mystery health condition. 

So what happened to Busted? Daily Mail looks at the varied fates of the rockers as their new tour is thrown into chaos.  

Charlie Simpson  

Charlie was the main member to signal the end of Busted in 2005, when he decided he wanted to leave and focus on his rock band Fightstar. 

He admitted to The Sun that he was ‘unhappy’ during his final months in the band, and ‘broke down’ before he quit.

‘I was going to leave a lot earlier than I did but I had lots of commitments and didn’t want to let anyone down,’ Charlie said.

Since then Charlie has continued to perform with Fightstar, and also released four solo albums and set up his own record label.

In 2015 he also announced that he would be reuniting with Matt and James for a new Busted tour, with the band going on another hiatus in 2019 after three tours and solo albums. 

He also began to put more focus on fatherhood, as he married Anna Barnard in 2014, and they share sons Arlo, nine, and Jago, six. 

Charlie and his family suffered a terrifying scare in 2022, when their youngest son was rushed to hospital after ‘secondary drowning’ while on holiday abroad.

Secondary or dry drowning occurs when the child inhales water while swimming, causing the vocal chords to spasm and contract.

Charlie said: ‘He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. He was rushed through to have CT scans and X-Rays and to our absolute horror, we were told that he had water in his lungs and was minutes away from pneumonia.

‘Jago was diagnosed with secondary drowning. He spent the next three days in hospital and I’m so thankful for the amazing care he received. It was the worst thing we have ever experienced.’

In February 2023, Charlie made a surprise return to TV when he was unveiled as the winner of The Masked Singer, after performing as Rhino for the entire series.

Charlie previously defended his decision to leave Busted – saying if he had stayed their friendships would have been ruined beyond repair. 

‘Had we stayed in the band, we would have driven our friendship into the ground,’ he mused. ‘We probably wouldn’t have talked to each other again. It’s the only way this could have happened now, and I do quite want to move it on past talking about that because we are here to talk about something new and exciting.’

James Bourne 

As the band’s chief songwriter, James is the brains behind some of Busted’s most iconic tracks.

Following their original split, he continued to pen music, but for other artists, including Mel B, The Saturdays, The Vamps and 5 Seconds Of Summer.

Charlie’s decision to leave the band affected him deeply, however, and he admitted it took five years to get over Busted disbanding. 

He confessed: ‘I spent a few months in my apartment just playing video games and not really seeing anybody. It probably took about five years actually. 

‘I spent a good few years doing other things, but there was still a part of me that thought, “Hopefully we can do another album”. And it took about five years for me to give up on that and make peace with the fact that it was never going to happen.’

He went on to form another rock band, called Son Of Dork, and their first single Ticket Outta Loserville, reached number three in the charts in November 2005, and their second single, Eddie’s Song, hit a high of No10.

Eventually the group parted ways when they decided to focus on other projects, and James turned their debut album into Loserville: The Musical, which opened in the West End in October 2012.

The show closed after just three months but in early 2020 it briefly transferred to the East Coast in the US.

James also attempted to launch a musical career as a solo artist under the name Future Boy – releasing electronic music.   

On Tuesday, James revealed he was struggling with a health condition, posting on Instagram: ‘The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in Birmingham and as excited as l’ve been all year for this tour to begin.’

He continued: ‘I’m really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am not in good enough health to play these shows 🙁

‘There’s a lot of information I still don’t have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on the medical stuff for now.

‘I really hope I can be in a position to come back further down the line. It’s still going to be an amazing show and I will miss being there! See you all as soon as possible.’

His mystery health scare came two years after he was taken to hospital after being bitten by a Black Widow spider.

James revealed on social media at the time: ‘I’m finally recovered now (touch wood) from being bitten by a black widow spider.

‘I did not know how serious my condition was until I was refused an IV drip at my local Next health because I was suffering hypertension with a blood pressure reading of 190 / 115 mmHg.

‘Apparently that’s quite serious. I ended up at the hospital later that night! Anyway, I’m still here, Alive and kicking! Cool story bro…’

Matt Willis 

During his time in Busted, Matt struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and in 2004 he sought help, three months after he began dating his now-wife Emma.

While he won I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2006, he continued to struggle with his demons, but Emma vowed to stand by him.

Since 2008, Matt has been sober, and he and Emma are parents to three children, and he has admitted that becoming a father finally pushed him to quit alcohol.

Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, he said: ‘When Isabelle was born, I stayed clean for a while, and then I relapsed again when she was about six months old. 

‘I kind of, I missed Emma’s birthday. She was in Birmingham and I was doing a TV show at the time.

‘It was the wrap party and I had a glass of champagne and I was off to the races that night; I turned up at her parent’s house at four in the morning like it was nothing off my head.’

He has since turned his life around an in 2023, he released BBC Documentary Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction – which he later admitted Emma was reluctant to take part in. 

Matt has also previously revealed that he became ‘fully invested’ in The Church Of Scientology, and even made daily visits to their London headquarters.

But he went onto admit that he distanced himself when he realised the group were trying to separate him from wife Emma.

His most recent adventure has seen him co-host season two of UK’s Love Is Blind with his wife Emma.  

Love Is Blind a social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.