McBusted were an English pop-punk supergroup composed of members from bands McFly (Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd) and Busted (James Bourne and Matt Willis). The only member of the original groups not participating in the new lineup was former Busted guitarist and vocalist Charlie Simpson,[2] who instead opted to focus on his solo career and his rock band Fightstar.[3]

McBusted
McBusted performing in 2014
McBusted performing in 2014
Background information
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active2013–2015
Labels
Spinoff of
Past membersTom Fletcher
James Bourne
Danny Jones
Matt Willis
Dougie Poynter
Harry Judd
Websitewww.mcbusted.com

Having previously appeared as special guests during McFly's tenth-anniversary concerts at the Royal Albert Hall,[4] it was announced on 11 November 2013 that former Busted members Bourne and Willis would join McFly to form the six-piece supergroup "McBusted" and go on an arena tour in April and May 2014.[3] The original eleven-concert McBusted Tour quickly sold out and was eventually extended to 34 shows, including headlining Hyde Park on 6 July 2014. On 16 June 2014, McBusted made their overseas debut, supporting One Direction on their Where We Are Tour in Denmark. They then continued to support One Direction the following night, and again in France on 21 June. They went on to also support One Direction in 2015 on the Australian and European leg of their On the Road Again Tour as special guests. In April 2014, it was revealed that McBusted would be releasing an album.[5] On 7 October, they announced their debut single "Air Guitar", which debuted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also announced that they had signed a record deal with Island Records. The band's self-titled debut album was released on 1 December and peaked at number nine.

On 10 November 2015, it was announced that Simpson had decided to rejoin Busted after 10 years away from the band, as a consequence Willis confirmed that McBusted had parted ways for the time being, but they "enjoyed every minute" of their time in the band. Fletcher had previously commented that although McBusted are no longer together, he will not rule out a reunion, stating it "definitely doesn't feel like the end".[6]

History

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2013: Background, formation and tour announcement

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From 19 to 22 September 2013, McFly commemorated their tenth anniversary by performing four concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.[7] During these shows Matt Willis and James Bourne made a surprise brief reunion as Busted when they joined as special guests. (Willis and Bourne's ex-bandmate Charlie Simpson, whose decision to quit Busted led to the band's break-up in January 2005, chose not to take part.)[4] Under the name "McBusted", the six-piece performed Busted's "Year 3000" and "Air Hostess" and McFly's "Shine a Light".[4] This sparked rumours that Busted could make a comeback.[4]

On 11 November 2013, it was announced that Willis and Bourne would join Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd and go on an eleven-date arena tour as McBusted in 2014, and play both Busted and McFly songs.[3] Simpson refused to be a part of McBusted as he wanted to focus on his own career, but he was paid a "six-figure sum" by Willis and Bourne after he sold his third of the copyrighted Busted name.[8] A source told the Daily Mirror that Simpson's decision not to be part of McBusted was an amicable one: "Charlie wishes the boys lots of luck but he wanted absolutely no involvement. All three sat down amicably and worked out a figure that everyone was happy with. Charlie made it clear in no uncertain terms that that's it for him and the boys now, it's finished."[8] Pre-sale tickets for the eleven shows went on sale at 9am on 14 November and sold out in minutes.[9] Tickets went on general sale the following morning and quickly sold out as well,[10] resulting in the addition of six more concerts in Glasgow, Bournemouth, London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester.[10] Another four dates were then added on 17 November, bringing the tour to 20 dates.[11] Since then, the tour has increased to a total 34 dates throughout April–June 2014. It comprises dates in Glasgow, Liverpool, Bournemouth, London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Manchester, Brighton, Dublin and Belfast.[10] Regarding the tour, Judd said, "It's bigger than what Busted ever were and it's bigger than what McFly ever were".[12] On 9 December, McBusted announced that they would be headlining British Summer Time Hyde Park Festival on 6 July 2014 with the Backstreet Boys, The Vamps, Scouting for Girls and dance troupe Diversity as special guests.[12][13]

On 15 November, McBusted made their first official TV performance, appearing on Children in Need 2013 and playing a medley of four songs: "All About You", "Year 3000", "Air Hostess" and "Shine a Light".[14] A McBusted version of McFly's song "Love Is on the Radio" was released on 24 November.[15]

2014: McBusted Tour and McBusted

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Throughout April–June 2014, McBusted went on their 34-date sold-out nationwide tour.[10] Regarding the McBusted Tour, Judd said, "It's bigger than what Busted ever were and it's bigger than what McFly ever were".[12] On 6 July 2014, McBusted announced that they would be headlining British Summer Time Hyde Park, with the Backstreet Boys, Five, Scouting for Girls and dance troupe Diversity as special guests.[12][13] On 16 June, McBusted made their overseas debut, supporting One Direction on their Where We Are Tour in Denmark, following the cancellation of 5 Seconds of Summer.[16] McBusted then continued as the support act the following night, and again in France on 21 June.[17] On 10 September, it was announced that a McBusted concert film, Tourplay, would be released exclusively through Vue Cinemas on 28 October for one day.[18]

During an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show on 22 February 2014, Willis said: "We always said that we weren't going to say we were going to bring out music, because we didn't want to say that we were going to make music and it be terrible. But we went away, we did some writing and it wasn't terrible."[19] On 1 April, Judd revealed that McBusted would be making an album.[5] On 8 October, the official lyric video to their debut single "Air Guitar", was released; the song was made available to pre-order on iTunes the same day. It peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. On 23 October, the band announced that their debut album McBusted would be released on 1 December.[20] The album debuted and peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold for sales of over 100,000.

2015: McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour, international gigs

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On 4 November 2014, the band posted on their Twitter and Facebook pages: "It's possibly the worst kept secret in entertainment, but we are so stoked to announce the #McBusted2015Tour!!!"[21] On 26 January 2015, on their website, they announced that the tour would be called McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour.[22] The tour lasted from 12 March to 22 April 2015, consisting of 21 shows. McBusted were also the support act for the Australian and European legs of One Direction's On the Road Again Tour in 2015.[23] During the Australian dates, McBusted announced and performed two of their own gigs, one in Sydney[24] and one in Melbourne.[25] A music video was shot for their song "Get Over It" in 2014 with the intention of releasing it as a single the next year. However James Bourne confirmed on Twitter that the release was scrapped.[26] A DVD and Blu-ray release of the 2015 tour, McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour – Live at the O2, was released on 22 June 2015 and reached number one in the music video charts.[27]

Charlie Simpson's return to Busted and McBusted's future

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The band have nothing more planned, with the members saying they will sit down and discuss what is next. However, Fletcher has suggested that McBusted would end 2016 to allow for McFly to continue. He told Fabulous magazine that "McBusted was an opportunity to have fun without knowing where it would take us, but McFly is for life. McBusted has been amazing fun, but it's not where our passion is. McFly is more than a band, we live and breathe it. We want to make album number six."[28]

On 10 November 2015, Charlie Simpson returned to the original Busted line up with Willis and Bourne. In their first interview with Hunger TV, Willis touched on the future of McBusted stating "We've done McBusted, it was awesome, we loved every second of it. Now it's time to be in this band."[1] Although Fletcher commented that McBusted are done performing together at the minute, he also stated that it doesn't mean they won't perform together again and that "It's something that is always going to be there – it definitely doesn't feel like the end."[6] On 26 April McFly announced their comeback tour, Anthology Tour, in which they will perform the entirety of their five studio albums in four cities over three nights.

Busted marked their 20th anniversary in 2023 with the album Greatest Hits 2.0, which features McFly on the track "Thunderbirds 2.0". This marks the first collaboration between the bands since McBusted. [29]

Members

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Touring members

  • Jamie Norton  – keyboards (2014–2015)
  • Isaac Aryee  – keyboards (2014)

Discography

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Studio albums

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Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
AUS
[30]
IRE
SCO
McBusted 9 48 31 9

Video albums

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Title Details Notes
McBusted: Live at the O2 & TourPlay
  • Release: 24 November 2014[31]
  • Formats: Blu-ray, DVD, digital download
  • Label: Universal
  • Live at the O2 directed by Matt Askem
  • TourPlay directed by David Spearing
McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour – Live at the O2
  • Release: 22 June 2015[32]
  • Formats: Blu-ray, DVD, digital download
  • Label: Universal
  • Directed by David Spearing[33]

Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[34]
SCO
"Air Guitar" 2014 12 14 McBusted
"Get Over It" 2015 82

Music videos

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Title Year Director(s)
"Air Guitar" 2014
"Get Over It" 2015

Tours

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Headlining

Supporting

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Interview: Busted". Hungertv.com.
  2. ^ Denham, Jess (11 November 2013). "Boybands McFly and Busted to form supergroup for UK tour". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b c McGeorge, Alistair (11 November 2013). "McBusted: McFly and Busted become supergroup 2014 tour dates for supergroup". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Corner, Lewis (20 September 2013). "Busted join McFly on stage at Royal Albert Hall show – video". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ a b "McBusted confirm plans to record new album: "It will happen"". Digital Spy. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b Ashleigh Rainbird (3 November 2015). "McFly singer Tom Fletcher unsure of McBusted's future if Charlie Simpson returns to Busted". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  7. ^ Duff, Seamus (22 September 2013). "After four sell out 10th anniversary gigs at London's Royal Albert Hall: Why McFly are not a boyband". Metro. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b Giles, Kayleigh (17 November 2013). "Phew! McBusted Add More Dates To Sellout Tour Amid Phenomenal Demand". EntertainmentWise. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  9. ^ Lee, Ann (14 November 2013). "McBusted pre-sale tickets: McFly and Busted fans left disappointed on Twitter after 2014 tour sell out". Metro. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d Wilson, Jess (15 November 2013). "McBusted add SIX more dates to their tour". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  11. ^ Wood, Lucy (15 November 2013). "McBusted add six extra dates, and then another three, to their UK tour due to high demand as arenas sell out in minutes". sugarscape.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  12. ^ a b c d "McBusted – Hyde Park Announcement". YouTube. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park McBusted". Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  14. ^ Greenwood, Carl (16 November 2013). "Video: McBusted's Children in Need performance was the best thing ever". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. ^ Corner, Lewis (19 November 2013). "McFly to release McBusted remix of new single 'Love Is on the Radio'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  16. ^ Wood, Lucy (17 June 2014). "McBusted support One Direction on the Where We Are tour in Denmark, and Niall Horan joins the human pyramid – PICS and VIDEO". sugarscape.com. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  17. ^ "McBusted will support One Direction on Where We Are stadium tour". AXS. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  18. ^ Corner, Lewis (12 September 2014). "Watch McBusted's concert film TOURPLAY trailer". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  19. ^ Eames, Tom (22 February 2014). "McBusted: 'We'd like Charlie Simpson to come back'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  20. ^ "McBusted to release self-titled debut album in December". Digital Spy. 23 October 2014.
  21. ^ "McBusted announce huge UK and Ireland arena tour for March 2015". HMV. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  22. ^ "McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour!". 26 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  23. ^ "McBusted announce they'll be supporting One Direction on their Australian On the Road Again tour: 'We're so stoked'". Sugarscape.
  24. ^ McBusted Sydney Setlist – The Metro Theatre – 21 Feb 2015
  25. ^ McBusted Melbourne Setlist – The Palais Theatre – 24 Feb 2015
  26. ^ "James Bourne on Twitter". Twitter.
  27. ^ The Unit (30 June 2015). "MEAT DVD #1 in Official Music Video chart!". McBusted.
  28. ^ Fabulous magazine, 21 June 2015
  29. ^ "Busted announce Greatest Hits 2.0 album featuring You Me at Six,…". 28 July 2023.
  30. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  31. ^ McBusted – Live at the O2 & TourPlay Amazon. Retrieved 30 June 2015
  32. ^ McBusted Most Excellent Adventure Tour – Live at the O2 Amazon. Retrieved 30 June 2015
  33. ^ McBusted to release M.E.A.T. DVD Official Charts.com. Retrieved 20 June 2015
  34. ^ "'Get over It' by McBusted Top 40 Chart Statistics - HOT40UK". www.hot40uk.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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