ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Busted Online</title> <LINK REL=stylesheet HREF="/busted/style.css" type="text/css"> </head> <body> <div align="justify"> <b>>> My version of their biography</b><p> Whether you like to admit it or not, Busted have made a huge impact on the pop scene. They may be three boys with the sort of good looks to gain them a boy-bandish reputation, but there is a lot more to these guys than that.<p> With four UK number ones, two Brit awards, two multi-platinum selling albums (one of which went platinum in an amazing eleven days) and two sell out tours (one theatre, one arena) under their belt, Busted have established themselves as one of the finest pop acts of today. And with yet another arena tour later this year, plus a possible future success in America, there's no stopping there. And to think that they released their debut single in the UK less than two years ago.<p> So who are the boys that make up this pop phenomenon? First of all, meet 21 year old James Bourne. James has become renowned as one of the best songwriters in pop music, after writing not only almost all of Busted's music, but also writing for other acts such as McFly, V and apparently in the near future, Natasha Bedingfield. He was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and claims that he was brought up in a non-musical environment. However, this is almost hard to believe when you look at him now - rhythm (occasionally lead) guitarist, singer and songwriter in Busted, even adding some piano to some of Busted's tracks. Before Busted, he was in a band with some friends, and they called themselves Sic Puppy, which is now the name of his clothing label. Eventually, the band fizzled out, and James started a music technology course at college. After he was introduced to Matt, he decided that this was not the right direction for him, and he quit the course to concentrate on Busted.<p> Next up is Matt Willis (aka Matt Jay), the cheeky boy of the group, and also the oldest, being 21. Born in Tooting, London, he soon found himself in Kingston, Surrey. Like James, his family was not particularly musical, however he formed a Green Day tribute band with his brother and a couple of mates in his early teens. One fateful day, Matt decided to sing Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis at a karaoke night, and happened to be spotted by Matt Fletcher, who is now part of Busted's management. Fletcher introduced Matt to James, and both boys immediately recognised each other from band gigs and past auditions. Matt soon moved into James' house to help him write some material, and started as the drummer. Somewhere along the way, he changed to become the fantastic bassist he is now.<p> Finally, there's Charlie Simpson, the final instalment of Busted, commonly known as the most posh boy in pop. Charlie was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and is the youngest Busted boy, at only 19. I would say that Charlie is the most musically talented out of the three, playing mainly guitar and drums, and also piano and bass. His family also has a musical background, unlike the other two. He claims that one of his ancestors is a famous composer, and both of his brothers are in rock bands. Charlie himself is a guitarist in a rock band, Fightstar, who are currently gigging whenever Charlie has time available away from Busted. When he was younger, he attended the top boarding school, Uppingham, until he was 16. It was then that he made the big desicion to leave to be in Busted. Looks like it was the right decision..<p> March 2002 was an important month for Busted. They made appointments right, left and centre with as many record labels as they could, and performed acoustically in their offices. Luckily for them, most recognised the huge talent, and soon, deals were flying their way and companies were fighting over the band. Eventually, although BMG offered more money, Busted chose Universal, as they decided that they seemed more like they were thinking of Busted in the long run.<p> Busted's first single, What I Go To School For, was released back in September 2002, receiving excellent reviews in all the magazines. It shot straight into the charts at number three, and because of this, their self titled album, which was released just two weeks later, was expected to do just as well. It didn't. Only just dropping into the top 50, Busted started to worry that this was perhaps not the dream they had all hoped for. Of course, they weren't going to give up. Their next single, Year 3000, went a place higher at number two in January 2003, helping their album reach the same position in the album chart. For months after, it crept around the top 20, until their third single, You Said No, gave them their first number one in April. This also broke a record, making Busted the first band in history to have their first three singles going into the charts consecutively number three, two and then one. With their first tour, which was completely sold out, launching in the middle of May, things were going crazy for Busted. The fourth and final release from the debut album was Sleeping With The Light On, the first track that James and Matt ever wrote together. This hit the top three yet again, and Busted proceeded to record their second album, which was mainly written on their tour.<p> Everyone waited in anticipation until November, when a brand new song, Crashed The Wedding, was released. It was accompanied by a hilarious video involving Busted dressed up as women and many other people, making it possibly one of the funniest music videos ever created. Slightly more rocky than their previous music, Busted had no need to worry, as the song.. well, crashed the charts really, giving them their second number one. The album, called A Present For Everyone, followed two weeks later, and hit number two again, only just being beaten by Michael Jackson's greatest hits - and I mean it when I say only just. In February 2004, they released yet another number one single, Who's David, which admittedly didn't have the best music video ever created. In the same week, Busted won two Brit awards for Best Pop Act and Best Breakthrough Act - things were just getting better for them.<p> And if that wasn't enough for them, they had a sold out 24-date arena tour coming up at the end of February, which proved the Busted live experience to be spectacular as always. In fact, it went so well, that they almost immediately arranged another arena tour, which takes place this winter. Around a month after the end of the tour, the third track was released from A Present For Everyone, Air Hostess, which went in at number two. The boys also headed off to America to start some promotion in May, but not wanting to desert their UK fans, returned to do a mini outdoor summer tour in July. They also released a new single, a double a side of 3am, and their theme tune for the Thunderbirds movie soundtrack, Thunderbirds Are Go. This scored them another number one, outselling The Streets around three copies to one, and the single sold out of most shops in the UK. For the first time, Busted stayed at the top spot for two weeks.<p> Busted are currently embarking on their winter tour, which is proving to be a great success so far. The live album and DVD have both been released and are now selling fast, especially with Christmas round the corner. A new six-part MTV show, America Or Busted, is also being aired in both America and the UK, and will later be broadcast in other countries too. This show is set to help Busted break America as it shows the band on their journey from super stardom to the unknown.<p> There seems to be no stopping their mind-blowing success. As James says, 'we'll be around for as long as our fans want to be.' And I have a feeling that their reign is not going to be over for a long time yet.<p> </body> </html>