Busted reunion: What have the group been doing for the last 20 years?

Noughties pop-punk boy band just announced a special 20 year anniversary reunion tour

Busted have announced a greatest hits reunion tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

On Thursday (23 March), the band posted a video on Instagram informing fans that they are back for a special anniversary tour.

“Busted is back,” they wrote in the caption for the video, before informing fans that tickets will go on sale from Friday 31 March.

The British boy band were hugely famous in the noughties for pop-punk hits such as “Year 3000”, “What I Go To School For” and “Crashed The Wedding”.

The group, consisting of Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis and James Bourne, were teens in Busted’s early days, and are now in their late 30s.

Although they may not have been together as Busted for a while, the group members have been very busy for the last 20 years.

So what exactly have Busted been up to for the last two decades?

Charlie Simpson

Charlie Simpson (Getty Images)

Charlie Simpson is Busted’s lead singer and is known for his powerful, husky voice.

Simpson has been particularly busy lately; the singer is just off the back of taking part in the ITV competition show The Masked Singer.

Disguised as a rhino, Simpson beat Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson to the win.

The star said he was surprised to come out on top, with his goal just to “remember the lyrics and have fun.”

However, Simpson was still involved in music ahead of his time on the show. After Busted disbanded in 2005, Simpson joined rock band Fightstar as their lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist.

After Fightstar went on a hiatus, the now 37-year-old pursued a solo career, dabbling in the more acoustic side of music.

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In 2011 he released his debut solo album Young Pilgrim, featuring tracks such as “Down, Down, Down” and “Parachutes”.

Matt Willis

Matt Willis and Emma Willis (getty)

Willis is the bassist and vocalist in Busted. He has been married to TV presenter Emma Willis since 2008. The couple have three children together.

After a short solo career, Willis was one of the Busted members who participated in a special collaborative tour which saw him and bandmate James Bourne merge with McFly to make a supergroup: McBusted.

McBusted also went on to release an album by the same name.

The 39-year-old has also delved into a career outside of music. In 2006, he took part in Celebrity MasterChef before entering the jungle on I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Willis was crowned King of the Jungle and then went back the following year to present the show with his now-wife, Emma Willis.

The musician went on to co-host a comedy podcast When No One Is Watching with Matt Richardson in 2020 and 2021.

James Bourne

James Bourne (Getty Images)

Guitarist and drummer James Bourne co-founded Busted with Willis (Simpson joined later, after seeing their ad in NME).

Since the band’s original split in 2005, Bourne has taken part in multiple music projects, including as a member of punk pop band Son of Dork.

He later started his own electronic music project called Future Boy, before going on to have a successful career in songwriting for other artists.

The musician has writing credits for the likes of McFly, Melanie C, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Saturdays and The Vamps.

Bourne also joined Willis and McFly in McBusted for their tour and album release.

The 39-year-old also has had a successful career in musicals. Bourne was commissioned to write three musicals: Loserville: The Musical!, Out There: The Musical and Murder at the Gates.