McBusted were an English
pop-punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to:
* Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields
* Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry
* Supergroup ...
composed of members from bands
McFly (
Tom Fletcher,
Danny Jones,
Dougie Poynter, and
Harry Judd) and
Busted (
James Bourne and
Matt Willis). The only member of the original groups not participating in the new lineup was former Busted guitarist and vocalist
Charlie Simpson, who instead opted to focus on his solo career and his rock band
Fightstar.
Having previously appeared as special guests during McFly's tenth-anniversary concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
,
it was announced on 11 November 2013 that former Busted members Bourne and Willis would join McFly to form the six-piece supergroup "McBusted" and go on an arena tour in April and May 2014.
The original eleven-concert
McBusted Tour
The McBusted Tour is a 2014 concert tour by English supergroup McBusted, composed of members of pop rock bands McFly and Busted. It consisted of 36 shows around cities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from April–June 2014. Th ...
quickly sold out and was eventually extended to 34 shows, including headlining
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
on 6 July 2014. On 16 June 2014, McBusted made their overseas debut, supporting
One Direction
One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
on their
Where We Are Tour in Denmark. They then continued to support One Direction the following night, and again in France on 21 June. They went on to also support One Direction in 2015 on the Australian and European leg of their
On the Road Again Tour
The On The Road Again Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour and second all-stadium tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, in support of their fourth studio album, ''Four'' (2014). The tour began on 7 February 2015 in Sydney, Austra ...
as special guests. In April 2014, it was revealed that McBusted would be releasing an album.
On 7 October, they announced their debut single "
Air Guitar", which debuted at number 12 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. It was also announced that they had signed a record deal with
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
. The band's
self-titled debut album was released on 1 December and peaked at number nine.
On 10 November 2015, it was announced that Simpson had decided to rejoin Busted after 10 years away from the band, as a consequence Willis confirmed that McBusted had parted ways for the time being, but they "enjoyed every minute" of their time in the band. Fletcher had previously commented that although McBusted are no longer together, he will not rule out a reunion, stating it "definitely doesn't feel like the end".
History
2013: Background, formation and tour announcement
From 19 to 22 September 2013,
McFly commemorated their tenth anniversary by performing four concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. During these shows
Matt Willis and
James Bourne made a surprise brief reunion as
Busted when they joined as special guests. (Willis and Bourne's ex-bandmate
Charlie Simpson, whose decision to quit Busted led to the band's break-up in January 2005, chose not to take part.)
Under the name "McBusted", the six-piece performed Busted's "
Year 3000" and "
Air Hostess" and McFly's "
Shine a Light".
This sparked rumours that Busted could make a comeback.
On 11 November 2013, it was announced that Willis and Bourne would join
Tom Fletcher,
Danny Jones,
Dougie Poynter and
Harry Judd and go on
an eleven-date arena tour as McBusted in 2014, and play both Busted and McFly songs.
Simpson refused to be a part of McBusted as he wanted to focus on his own career, but he was paid a "six-figure sum" by Willis and Bourne after he sold his third of the copyrighted Busted name.
A source told the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' that Simpson's decision not to be part of McBusted was an amicable one: "Charlie wishes the boys lots of luck but he wanted absolutely no involvement. All three sat down amicably and worked out a figure that everyone was happy with. Charlie made it clear in no uncertain terms that that's it for him and the boys now, it's finished."
Pre-sale tickets for the eleven shows went on sale at 9am on 14 November and sold out in minutes.
Tickets went on general sale the following morning and quickly sold out as well,
resulting in the addition of six more concerts in Glasgow, Bournemouth, London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester.
Another four dates were then added on 17 November, bringing the tour to 20 dates. Since then, the tour has increased to a total 34 dates throughout April–June 2014. It comprises dates in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Newcastle,
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
.
Regarding the tour, Judd said, "It's bigger than what Busted ever were and it's bigger than what McFly ever were".
On 9 December, McBusted announced that they would be headlining
British Summer Time
During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ev ...
Hyde Park Festival on 6 July 2014 with the
Backstreet Boys,
The Vamps,
Scouting for Girls and dance troupe
Diversity as special guests.
On 15 November, McBusted made their first official TV performance, appearing on ''
Children in Need 2013
''Children in Need 2013'' is a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for the charity Children in Need. 2013 marks the 33rd anniversary of the appeal which culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two on the evening of Frida ...
'' and playing a medley of four songs: "
All About You", "Year 3000", "Air Hostess" and "Shine a Light". A McBusted version of McFly's song "
Love Is on the Radio
"Love Is on the Radio" is a song by the English pop rock band McFly, released on 24 November 2013 as the lead single from their since shelved sixth studio album.
Alternative versions of the song were released on the same day, including the Sil ...
" was released on 24 November.
2014: McBusted Tour and ''McBusted''
Throughout April–June 2014, McBusted went on their 34-date sold-out nationwide tour.
Regarding the
McBusted Tour
The McBusted Tour is a 2014 concert tour by English supergroup McBusted, composed of members of pop rock bands McFly and Busted. It consisted of 36 shows around cities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from April–June 2014. Th ...
, Judd said, "It's bigger than what Busted ever were and it's bigger than what McFly ever were".
On 6 July 2014, McBusted announced that they would be headlining British Summer Time Hyde Park, with the
Backstreet Boys,
Five
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
,
Scouting for Girls and dance troupe
Diversity as special guests.
On 16 June, McBusted made their overseas debut, supporting
One Direction
One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
on their
Where We Are Tour in Denmark, following the cancellation of
5 Seconds of Summer. McBusted then continued as the support act the following night, and again in France on 21 June. On 10 September, it was announced that a McBusted concert film, ''Tourplay'', would be released exclusively through
Vue Cinemas
Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...
on 28 October for one day.
During an interview on ''
The Jonathan Ross Show
''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonatha ...
'' on 22 February 2014, Willis said: "We always said that we weren't going to say we were going to bring out music, because we didn't want to say that we were going to make music and it be terrible. But we went away, we did some writing and it wasn't terrible." On 1 April, Judd revealed that McBusted would be making an album.
On 8 October, the official lyric video to their debut single "
Air Guitar", was released; the song was made available to pre-order on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
the same day. It peaked at number 14 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. On 23 October, the band announced that their debut album ''
McBusted'' would be released on 1 December. The album debuted and peaked at number 9 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and was certified
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
for sales of over 100,000.
2015: McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour, international gigs
On 4 November 2014, the band posted on their Twitter and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
pages: "It's possibly the worst kept secret in entertainment, but we are so stoked to announce the #McBusted2015Tour!!!" On 26 January 2015, on their website, they announced that the tour would be called
McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour. The tour lasted from 12 March to 22 April 2015, consisting of 21 shows. McBusted were also the support act for the Australian and European legs of One Direction's
On the Road Again Tour
The On The Road Again Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour and second all-stadium tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, in support of their fourth studio album, ''Four'' (2014). The tour began on 7 February 2015 in Sydney, Austra ...
in 2015. During the Australian dates, McBusted announced and performed two of their own gigs, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. A music video was shot for their song "Get Over It" in 2014 with the intention of releasing it as a single the next year. However
James Bourne confirmed on Twitter that the release was scrapped. A DVD and Blu-ray release of the 2015 tour, McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour – Live at the O2, was released on 22 June 2015 and reached number one in the music video charts.
Charlie Simpson's return to Busted and McBusted's future
The band have nothing more planned, with the members saying they will sit down and discuss what is next. However, Fletcher has suggested that McBusted would end 2016 to allow for McFly to continue. He told ''Fabulous'' magazine that "McBusted was an opportunity to have fun without knowing where it would take us, but McFly is for life. McBusted has been amazing fun, but it's not where our passion is. McFly is more than a band, we live and breathe it. We want to make album number six."
[''Fabulous'' magazine, 21 June 2015]
On 10 November 2015,
Charlie Simpson returned to the original
Busted line up with Willis and Bourne. In their first interview with ''Hunger TV'', Willis touched on the future of McBusted stating "We've done McBusted, it was awesome, we loved every second of it. Now it's time to be in this band."
Although Fletcher commented that McBusted are done performing together at the minute, he also stated that it doesn't mean they won't perform together again and that "It's something that is always going to be there – it definitely doesn't feel like the end."
On 26 April McFly announced their comeback tour, Anthology Tour, in which they will perform the entirety of their five studio albums in four cities over three nights.
Members
*
Tom Fletcher – vocals, guitars
*
James Bourne – vocals, guitars
*
Danny Jones – vocals, guitars
*
Matt Willis – vocals, bass guitar
*
Dougie Poynter – vocals, bass guitar
*
Harry Judd – drums, percussion
Touring members
* Jamie Norton – keyboards
* Isaac Aryee – keyboards
Discography
Studio albums
Video albums
Singles
Music videos
Tours
Headlining
*
McBusted: Busted & McFly (2014)
*
McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour (2015)
*
Fusion Festival
The Fusion Festival is a music and arts festival with a countercultural character. It takes place at a former military airport called Müritz Airpark in Lärz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in northeastern Germany. The festival name is often depicted ...
(Sunday) (2015)
Supporting
*
One Direction
One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
–
Where We Are Tour (Denmark and France) (2014)
* One Direction –
On the Road Again Tour
The On The Road Again Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour and second all-stadium tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, in support of their fourth studio album, ''Four'' (2014). The tour began on 7 February 2015 in Sydney, Austra ...
(Australia and Europe) (2015)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Busted (band)
English pop rock music groups
English pop punk groups
British supergroups
McFly
Musical groups established in 2013
Island Records artists
Musical groups from London
Rock music supergroups
2013 establishments in England