It’s not the Year 3000 yet, but here’s what the members of Busted are up to now

Not much has changed but they live underwater

2 years ago

Busted. THE boyband of the early 2000s, unless you were a McFly fan that is. Creators of some of the most iconic Y2K pop hits like Year 3000 and Air Hostess, and the soundtrack for just about every primary school disco ever. But they never did make it to the mythical seventh album that Year 3000 promised, and split after just five years, giving girls everywhere their first taste of heartbreak.

Rumours of a comeback started in 2014 when 2/3 of the band James Bourne and Matt Willis got together with McFly to form supergroup McBusted – the 2000s crossover we didn’t know we needed. And fans did end up having their prayers answered with a brief reunion between 2016 and 2019 which saw two new albums and an arena tour. But it just wasn’t quite the same and before long Busted all but vanished back into the ether.

Here’s what the members of the iconic noughties boyband Busted got up to post-split and where they are now:

Charlie Simpson

via YouTube

Busted front man aka the one everyone fancied. King of the eyebrows and frosted tips. Charlie was also reportedly the reason behind the band’s split in 2005, with rumours that he was leading a double life performing with Busted by day while attending rehearsals for new band Fightstar by night. Juicy.

Charlie continued to make music with Fightstar following the split, as well as releasing four solo albums and setting up his own record label.

He was the only member of the band not to return for the McBusted collaboration with McFly in 2014, further fuelling rumours of a feud with his ex-bandmates. However he was part of their comeback a year later.

via YouTube

Now 36, he’s married with two kids and is just about to embark on a solo tour. Most importantly though, his latest music video shows he’s swapped the frosted tips up for a man bun.

James Bourne

via YouTube

James Bourne was the band’s chief songwriter, the man behind most of Busted’s most memorable songs.

It’s maybe unsurprising then that since Busted ended he’s been busy writing songs for many other well-known artists. He has co-writing credits on the first four McFly albums, wrote most of the songs for McBusted and has provided songs for artists such as Mel C, The Saturdays, The Vamps and 5SOS.

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A post shared by Emily Canham🥰 (@emilycanham)

Since 2018, James, now 38, has been in a relationship with YouTuber Emily Canham, who announced in her last vlog that she’s preparing to move into his LA home. A childhood fan of Busted, she’s basically living out every fangirl’s dream tbh.

Matt Willis

via YouTube

Matt Willis is recognisable for his iconic hair, which was never the same from one performance to the next, from the bleached buzzcut to the classic 2000s spiky hair to the slightly questionable fringe.

Nowadays he seems to have toned it down a little by the looks of his Instagram, where he regularly posts cute selfies with his wife, The Voice presenter Emma Willis.

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A post shared by Matt Willis (@mattjwillis)

Matt had a successful year following Busted’s split, taking part in Celebrity Masterchef and being crowned King of the Jungle in I’m A Celeb. Since then he’s also moved into acting: he had a brief stint in Eastenders and is currently starring in Waitress in the West End.