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Busted Information
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'Busted' were a British pop group made up of three members: James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Jay and formed in 2001. They were signed to Universal Island and released seven singles and two albums in the UK Charts. Their sound could be described as "pop-rock" or "pop-punk". They could also be described as a boyband, although they sang live and in all but their earliest songs played their own guitars and were not actually anything like a boyband. The band announced at a press conference on January 14th 2005 that it was to split up. Since then, Charlie has released material with his new indie band, 'Fightstar', and James has formed the band 'Son of Dork',whose debut single is 'Ticket Outta Loserville.'
History
Some say despite the band claiming to have known each other before forming in 2001, they actually met in a meeting with Tim Byron (T-Force promotions; Manager of Steps, A1 etc.), and agreed to start Busted with a song Tim Byron had waiting to be released as their first single, What I Go To School For. It is better known that James and Matt had always been good friends long before Busted was born and wrote various songs together (including What I Go To School For), and auditioned Charlie in a search for their 3rd member to complete the line up.
The band went in to the studio in mid-June 2002 to co-write and record the remainder of their first self titled album, Busted.
Their first single "What I Go To School For" was released on September 16 2002 and got to number three in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album was released on September 30 2002 with mixed success in the beginnings, debuting in the Top 40 Album Chart, but drifting out fairly soon after.
In 2003, the band released another single, Year 3000, reaching number two in the charts, and prompting a resurgence in album sales. Two more singles from the first album were released later in 2003. A second album, A Present For Everyone was released in October 2003, with the first single, Crashed the Wedding, reaching number one in the charts. A second single, Who's David?, also reached number 1, but the third single, Air Hostess, only reached number 2. They finally returned to number 1 with Thunderbirds Are Go/3am, the first song being from the soundtrack of the movie "Thunderbirds", and the second being the third song from their album. None of their previous number one singles have stayed at number one for longer than a week, with this single staying at the top spot for two weeks.
A series about Busted's attempts to break America, America or Busted, started on MTV in the UK in November 2004.
Busted were also known for their feuds with other pop groups including Girls Aloud and Kelly Osbourne. McFly, a similar group and friends of Busted, also enjoyed chart success, primarily thanks to not just their catchy tunes (many of which were written by Busted's own James Bourne) but also to the fact they supported Busted on their spring 2004 tour.
After two sold out arena tours in one year, performing to a quarter of a million people on those two tours alone, Busted released a live album, called A Ticket For Everyone in late 2004. To promote this, they released a limited edition 3" CD single, She Wants To Be Me.
On 4 December, 2004 Busted's "Thunderbirds" won the public vote for Record of the Year 2004 in the UK in a live show on ITV.
Busted were also winners of Best Pop and Best Breakthrough Act at the 2004 Brit Awards, as well as many other awards.
After months of speculation, and an announcement that Charlie Simpson was to 'take a break' to tour with his rock group, Fightstar, Busted called a press conference on January 14th 2005. It was announced that Busted were to split, as Charlie had become disillusioned with the band, and wanted to concentrate fully on Fightstar.
Busted's last venture together was as part of Band Aid 20, a charity group put together by Bob Geldof. The group released a new version of 80s hit Do They Know It's Christmas? in order to raise funds for the Darfur region in Sudan. The single spent several weeks at number one in the UK charts.
Simpson is now fully musically involved with Fightstar, and James Bourne has also recently launched a band named Son Of Dork. Matt Jay plans to set up a solo career and is rumoured to be currently writing with Tom DeLonge, blink 182 guitarist, however not much is known about this endeavour.
Subsequent Statements By the Band
James Bourne; "I'm devastated that Charlie has chosen to quit Busted. I would like to say a personal thank you to all the fans who have made the last three years the best years of my life. I'll remember these years forever."
Charlie Simpson; "I'm incredibly proud of everything that we've achieved in Busted. We've enjoyed some of the best times in our lives together. I wouldn't change one single bit of it. This has been a really difficult decision and I hope the fans will understand".
Matt Jay; "It's a really sad day for all of us but we've always said that if one member left then we'd call it a day. The last three years have been unbelievable and I'd like to say a massive thank you to all our fans- you've been amazing."
Discography
*Albums (UK chart positions)
#Busted (2002) - #2
#A Present For Everyone (2003) - #2
#Busted Live: A Ticket For Everyone (2004) - #11
One Busted album specifically released for the U.S. market, a self-titled debut (officially called Busted (2004)), enjoyed limited success, but failed to make the charts.
*Singles (UK chart positions)
'From Busted:'
#"What I Go to School For" (2002) - #3
#"Year 3000" (2003) - #2
#"You Said No" (album name "Crash and Burn") (2003) - #1
#"Sleeping with the Light On" (2003) - #3
'From A Present For Everyone:'
#"Crashed the Wedding" (2003) - #1
#"Who's David?" (2004) - #1
#"Air Hostess" (2004) - #1
'From Thunderbirds soundtrack/A Present For Everyone:'
#"Thunderbirds Are Go"/"3am" (2004) - #1
'Guest appearance:'
#"Do They Know It's Christmas?" (as part of Band Aid 20) (2004) #1
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