Busted and McFly reveal what to expect from their Vs tour 👀

It's NOT going to be a normal show

Busted Vs McFly
Author: Anna Sky MagliolaPublished 23rd Oct 2024

Busted and McFly joined the Hits Radio Breakfast Show with Fleur East, James, and Matt to chat about their new tour 'Busted Vs McFly' and who the ultimate boyband is.

Earlier this month the groups announced they would be going on tour together, but it wouldn't be a normal co-headline tour, it was very much a versus show, as they explained to Fleur and the team.

Busted's Charlie Simpson explained: "There's gonna be some interesting surprises. Let's put it that way.

While McFly's Harry Judd added: "It's not your standard tour, you know, like, there's obviously been co-headlines and stuff. This is very much like a versus situation so..."

Charlie added: "Actually the way the whole thing is being designed, it's not like a normal show, it's a thing that sort of exists in its own space. So you know we are excited about it. Man, it's gonna be fun!"

The two bands have worked very closely in the past, with several members even joining forces as a superband McBusted, back in 2013 - 2015.

Now as the two bands are preparing to head out on tour next year, Busted members Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis go head to head with McFly's Harry Judd and Dougie Poynter on Hits Radio to take part in The Big Quiz.

With questions like how many BRIT Awards do Busted have, and name the lead singles from Busted's four studio album, it became very competitive. Take a look below.

When asked whose idea it was to do a joint tour, Harry explained: "Well, this is kind of born like 20 years ago, like you know when Busted obviously we're a thing and then we came out (McFly) and there was always this kind of, who's the bigger band, who's the better band?

"And so there was always this kind of unspoken rivalry and a bit of it, you know, was talked about and press and stuff. So, I think you know, Charlie saw the big paycheck and came back into Busted, that kind of rivalry sort of was reignited, and it's kind of been on the cards and things have been said over the summer and we were like..."

Busted and McFly have added a lot of new dates since the initial announcement due to high demand. You can buy tickets to see the band on tour in 2025 from Aloud.com from Friday 25th October.

How to listen to Hits Radio Breakfast

You can listen to Hits Radio Breakfast with Fleur East, James and Matt every weekday between 6am and 10am on Hits Radio (National).

Take a look at Busted through the years:

2000 – Busted were created

James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson formed Busted in 2000. The band originally had the line-up of James, and Matt along with Ki Fitzgerald and Owen Doyle, after they auditioned to be in a new band for Warner Music, however that line-up didn't last long.


Both Charlie Simpson and Tom Fletcher (now part of McFly) were offered places to complete the band's line-up, however it was later decided that Charlie would join James and Matt to form the line-up we know and love.

2002 – Busted released their debut album and single

The band officially launched in August 2002 and released their debut song 'What I Go To School For'. The song was written by Matt about a teacher he used to have a crush on and it saw the band get their first Top 5 song, with it reaching Number 3 in the UK.


This success was followed by the release of their debut album 'Busted' which went to Number 2 in the UK.

2003 – Busted got their first Number 1 ‘You Said No’

Following the success of their debut song they released 'Year 3000' a few months later which reached Number 2 in the UK. However, it was with the release of their third song 'You Said No', that Busted got their first Number 1.


The band went on tour and also released their second album 'A Present for Everyone' in November 2003, which featured their Number 1 hits 'Crashed the Wedding', 'Who's David' and their double A side 'Thunderbirds' / '3AM'.

2004 – Busted go on tour TWICE

Busted went on their second and third tours in 2004 called 'Busted: A Ticket for Everyone' and 'Busted: A Ticket for Everyone Else'. They also released three Top 2 hits from their album, 'Who's David', 'Air Hostess' and the double A side 'Thunderbirds' and '3AM'.


2004 was also the year that Busted picked up Best British Breakthrough Act and Best Pop Act at the BRIT Awards, and they took part in Band Aid 20's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

2005 – Busted decided to split

Tensions started to form in the band after Charlie decided to leave at the end of 2004, so the band finally split, announcing the news at a press conference in January 2005.

2006 – 2012 – Solo projects

During the years that Busted had separated the individual members did their own solo work.


Charlie spent time playing with the rock band Fightstar, which he joined while he was part of Busted. He also released four solo albums, the first two of which reached the Top 10 in the UK.


James also released music, both with pop punk band Son of Dork and as a solo artist Future Boy. He also became a songwriter, writing for Melanie C, McFly and the Jonas Brothers, as well as for the ITV hit show Britannia High.


After the band's split, Matt released several solo songs and an album called 'Don't Let It Go to Waste'. He also released a song called 'Crash' for the film Mr Bean's Holiday.


Away from music, Matt won I'm a Celeb back in 2006, and acted in several other TV shows including EastEnders and Birds of a Feather, as well appearing in several musicals on stage.

2013 – McBusted formed

Despite the band splitting back in 2005, Matt Willis and James Bourne joined forces with McFly members Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd, to form the supergroup McBusted.

2014 – McBusted went on tour

The new supergroup went on tour in 2014 and even supported One Direction on their European tour, continuing into 2015.


In October 2014 they released their first song as a supergroup, 'Air Guitar', followed by their album 'McBusted'.

2015 - Busted reunited

Busted reunited with Charlie Simpson in November 2015 with a 13-date tour, and announced they would be releasing their third album.

2016 – Busted released ‘Night Driver’ and went on tour

The reunited band released their third album 'Night Driver' in November 2016, which featured songs such as 'Coming Home' and 'On What You're On'. The band also went on their 'Busted: Pigs Can Fly' tour.

2017 – Busted took ‘Night Driver’ on tour

The band took their third album on tour with their 'Busted: Night Driver Tour' playing 49 dates around the world including 46 in Europe.

2019 – ‘Half Way There ‘Tour

Busted released their album 'Half Way There' in February 2019 receiving positive reviews and seeing it reach Number 2 in the UK. The band then took the album on tour in March of that year.

2023 – Busted reunite and go on tour

In March 2023 Busted announced they were reuniting for the first time in three years and would be going on tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The band sold out their tour on the day the tickets went on general sale, and added seven more dates due to high demand.
Their tour started in September 2023.

2023 - Busted release their 'Greatest Hits 2.0' album

In September 2023, Busted released their 'Greatest Hits 2.0' album. The band's latest compilation album is full of their classic hits with collaborations from the likes of the Jonas Brothers, McFly and Hanson.

2024 - Busted release a live and extended version of 'Greatest Hits 2.0'

In December 2023, Busted announced they would be re-releasing their 'Greatest Hits 2.0' album on 5th January 2024. The new album called 'Another Present For Everyone' is now available.

Now read:

Clean Bandit reveal how famous trainspotter Francis Bourgeois ended up in the 'Cry Baby' music video

KSI admits the HUGE success of 'Thick Of It' took him by surprise

Olly Alexander reveals the unusual language behind his new album name 'Polari'

How to listen to Hits Radio:

Turn it up with Hits Radio! Home of Fleur East, Sam Thompson and Gemma Atkinson playing the biggest hits and the biggest throwbacks, alongside the biggest laughs and life-changing competitions. Tune in on FM, DAB, online, ask your Smart Speaker to 'Play Hits Radio' and download the Rayo app.