The People reports Busted ex-bandmates Matt Willis and James Bourne are feuding over how to handle $4 million in royalties being hung up in court because the band’s original members Ki Fitzgeraldn and Owen Doyle are claiming to have co-written some of their biggest hits. “James is livid that Matt won’t co-operate,” a source revealed. “As far as he is concerned their main source of income has been cut off and they should do something about it immediately. The money they are missing out on could be as much as £2million. But Matt wants to see the whole court case through because he still thinks they can win. It is causing real problems between them because they aren’t seeing eye to eye over it.” Read more.
Charlie Simpson’s Busted Insults Leave Matt Willis Fuming
Former Busted star Matt Willis spoke with The Mirror about the rudeness displayed by his former bandmate Charlie Simpson in breaking up the band to start Fightstar and then calling his time with Busted “torture”. “We were in the band for five years, and it’s insulting to our fans who spent money following us around, buying our music and voting for us to win awards,” Willis said. “It’s out of order. People say I shouldn’t say anything but when I read all the things he says about us, I get really angry. I haven’t got anything against his new band but it wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for us. I texted Charlie and left loads of messages a while ago and he didn’t get back to me, so I just thought fu** you. Then out of the blue about two weeks ago I got a text from him asking how I was. So I guess we’re cool, but James [Bourne] is the one who’s still one of my best mates.”
Bourne: Good Thing Busted Didn’t Release Third LP
James Bourne tells The Daily Star that it was probably fortunate that he and his Busted bandmates broke up before putting out a third album. “That third Busted album - if we’d made it, it would have been awful anyway,” Bourne said. “Our heads were all in so many different places. Matt really wanted to bang mine and Charlie’s together when we were trying to work on it.”
James Bourne Finds His Band, Now Searches For A Name
Former Busted star James Bourne tells the Daily Star today that he almost gave up on forming a new band. “I wasn’t going to do another band. It’s hard because I never thought I’d find the right people,” Bourne explained. “Lost of really bad musicians turned up for the auditions and I thought ‘Oh no, this isn’t going to happen’. I’ve got a really good group and we’re excited about the future.” Now he has to come up with a name, which he says is “the hardest part. I’ve had a few embarrassing ideas.”
James Bourne Readies ‘Harder, Faster’ Sequel To Busted
Former Busted star James Bourne tells Radio 1 he’s got a new band and they’ve got an album due out at the end of the year. Like ex-bandmate Charlie Simpson’s new band Fightstar, Bourne said the group is “like a harder, faster Busted.” James admitted for now they’re getting used to performing together. “It’s weirder for them than it is for me,” he said. “I’ll be playing and they’ll be like ‘It’s really weird being in a band with you’ and I’ll be like ‘Yeah, it’s really weird being in a band with you too!’. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens, we’ve got a great album, it’s written already, we’re just in the middle of producing it.”
Charlie Simpson’s Dashes Busted Greats Hits Plans
James Bourne tells Neil Sean of Sky News that hopes for a Busted greatest hits album are being dashed due to Charlie Simpson’s refusal to participate. “I think it’s a shame for the fans who would have wanted all our songs finally together, but Charlie has said no,” Bourne said. Simpson’s friend said the Fightstar frontman “is still friends with the boys from Busted, but has made his feelings quite clear about a collection.”
McFly’s Tom Happy Busted Split
McFly’s Tom Fletcher has voiced relief about the guys from Busted splitting up earlier this year. “Since Busted split we have been given extra confidence because we’ve been able to take center stage for the first time,” Fletcher told The Sun. “We feel like the flag bearers of British pop.”
Simpson Complains Universal Turned Busted Into Machine
ContactMusic.com reports that former Busted, current Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson said Universal was to blame for turning “three songwriters” into a boyband “machine”, prompting him to ditch the chart-topping trio. “I was in London and an opportunity came up. At the time, when blink-182 and Green Day broke and the whole pop-punk thing went really big and I just thought, ‘It’s better than being at school,’ so I gave it a go,” Simpson explained of his decision to join Busted. “And it ended up being this massive thing and I was like, ‘Oh sh**!’ When I joined it was three songwriters writing music for a laugh. And then it got put into this machine that was Universal and came out as a big-branded thing. It was a fun three years and it just came to the point where I wanted something that my heart was in.”
Matt Willis Ponders Solo Career
With the breakup of Busted, Matt Willis is pondering what to do next. “It’s just been really surreal,” he admitted. “One minute I’m in a huge band now I’m having to think about my future.” He added, “The thought of going solo is a bit scary but it’s something I’m considering. I’m doing a bit of writing as well, so who knows what will happen.”
Charlie Simpson Nearly Ditched Busted In ’03
Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson tells Attitude magazine that he nearly walked out on Busted as long ago as Christmas 2003 after being forced to pose for a festive “Three Kings” picture for the cover of BBC pre-teen mag It’s Hot. “It’s been really confusing. Before Busted I was in bands with my mates back home, then the next thing I was living in London and dressing up as a king,” Simpson said. “It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed Busted, but Busted is a piss around and the aim of being in bands, ultimately, is to be in your ‘favourite’ band. That’s the idea with Fightstar. Not to sell records.”
