Fightstar's Charlie Simpson rejoins Busted for arena tour, new material

The worst kept secret in music is official, then. Fightstar’s Charlie Simpson is returning to his old pop band, Busted. Regrouping 10 years after they split up, when Simmo left to take up his ‘credible’ rock ambitions, the band are working new material - they've already got three new tracks in a four day studio session - and will embark on an arena tour next year. Until relatively recently, it seemed impossible that Simpson would rejoin his previous group. When fellow members James Bourne and Matt Willis alongside McFly formed McBusted, there was no suggestion Charlie was interested in getting involved. “A year ago James and I got together and just started hanging out,” Charlie explains, “and it felt really different, somehow, to how it had ten years ago. And the idea crept into my head after all that time apart: what would Busted look like today?” "I had to show people there's other elements of who I was, and now I've done that I just feel so much more relaxed. And I can be here and enjoy it – and all that stress I remember from before just isn't there. So in the last two years I felt like I went through a massive therapy session, of getting back to realising that actually Busted wrote great pop songs and it was a really great time. And the idea of doing it again is exciting. It's the most unbelievable journey. "And this is a progression, a new thing, this is not just a nostalgia trip, or me cashing-in. If I'd wanted that, I would have done McBusted. And that's so far away from where I am. But the prospect of performing the old songs is still exciting for me – especially as that leads us into the idea of writing and recording new songs together."