CHARLIE SIMPSON insists he genuinely meant it when he publicly vowed “never” to re-join Noughties boyband BUSTED.
But ten years after breaking millions of teenage hearts by ending the group responsible for pop hits including Year 3000 and What I Go To School For, the self-proclaimed credible rocker is once again sitting alongside MATT WILLIS and JAMES BOURNE as we meet secretly in a West London hotel.
As I first revealed last month, from today, Charlie is officially a full-time member of Brit Award-winning Busted again, with the band going on a UK arena tour next year before releasing an album of new material.
It’s a dramatic turnaround that has resulted in industry whispers that Charlie — who made front- page news in 2005 by turning his back on pop to concentrate on his metal band FIGHTSTAR — has swallowed his pride for a massive pay cheque.
But the new dad, now 30, shakes his head and says: “I can see why someone would think I want a piece of the action after seeing the success of McBUSTED, but financial motivation isn’t what this is about.
“Anyone who knows me knows I love music and I could have made a lot more money staying in Busted in the first place. I wouldn’t just do it for money. I genuinely thought we would never re-form. So really I am the most shocked out of everyone.”
Charlie admits he felt a “huge amount of guilt” when he left the band because he was taking away the best job in the world from pals Matt and James while they were in their pop prime.
The pair were left shell-shocked by Charlie’s decision to leave, admitting they believed “we’d be GREEN DAY in 20 years”. The following decade didn’t make things easier, with Charlie cutting all contact and regularly dismissing as fantasy the idea of Busted re-forming.
But today he reveals the first sign of an unlikely reconciliation came after Matt and James made a surprise visit to his house.
Charlie recalls: “For eight years we had no contact. The first chat we had was three years ago, six months before the McBusted thing. They turned up on my door and it was so weird.”
Matt — married to Big Brother presenter EMMA WILLIS — says: “James and I wanted to do something with Busted again. We’d talked about it for a while and wanted to know where we stood with Charlie.”
James adds: “We decided we were dudes in our late twenties, we can speak to each other, we don’t need a lawyer.”
Charlie rejected being involved in a Busted project at the time, but it did spark the first signs of a re-kindled friendship.
He says: “What was significant about that day is we started hanging out and playing tunes.”
James adds: “When Charlie left Busted our passions had drifted. But now we were on the same page. I left feeling this door was no longer locked.”
Charlie smiles then admits: “Meeting these guys was like unlocking a chest I’d put away for eight years in a dark room. Mentally it was a lot to take.”
Matt adds: “Before walking into Charlie’s house I never thought Busted would be a thing again.”
Charlie agrees, saying: “I thought the same. Then we started to rekindle our friend-ship. I’d meet James for dinner and we’d talk on the phone.”
But Charlie still rejected any idea of working together initially, including in McBusted.
He explains: “I never thought about doing it. My relationship with McFly is not the same as the other guys’. I always thought if we were going to do anything as a band it’d be just us.”
Charlie didn’t even see McBusted live, despite the band having huge success, even performing to 60,000 at London’s Hyde Park.
But he says: “I was really happy for the guys, it did alleviate some of the guilt I felt in 2005. I took it away from them and they were doing it again, so I felt better.”
For the next two years after the reunion with Charlie, Matt and James were focused on McBusted.
When their tour wound down, Charlie decided he was ready to consider re-forming Busted.
He says: “James and I had been talking a lot and we were speaking about what Busted would look like today. In April we played a few tunes.”
They soon decided to make a secret trip to Philadelphia in July to see if they would work well together in the studio.
Charlie explains: “I needed to be in a creative space with these guys. I wasn’t 100 per cent it could happen.”
Like a scene from a US buddy comedy, they met in New York’s Union Square, rented a run-down hire car and went on a road trip. Matt says: “I thought the past would be a sore subject, but we reminisced on the way.”
For Charlie, it was a time to look back at how he struggled with becoming a manufactured pop superstar — the HARRY STYLES of the Noughties.
He says: “People said Busted didn’t write their own songs and that hurt me a lot. I wanted them to realise I am a musician and I love my music, so I was prepared to walk away from fame.
“At that point I needed to do what felt right, I didn’t care about the money. During the period from Busted to Fightstar I faced an uphill climb mentally. It manifested itself in me shutting my mind off. I went through times when I just didn’t want to talk about Busted. It was like that for many years.”
Charlie insists he isn’t embarrassed about his return to pop with Busted’s new album, which he will spend the next few months working on full-time.
He says: “Musically it is difficult to describe. It doesn’t sound like old Busted, it doesn’t sound like Fightstar — it sounds like Busted grown up. It is pop music, cool pop.”
But he still intends to make another solo and Fightstar record, insisting: “This isn’t a marriage, you don’t have to commit for ever.”
James adds: “We aren’t saying we have to finish next summer. We are saying we are in our thirties and doing what excites us.”
Poignantly, the band’s first gig of their 13-date arena tour next May will be at Wembley Arena.
Matt explains: “The last gig we did was Wembley.
“We played there for the 12th time in 2004 and, 12 years on, we will start the journey there again.”
Emma’s ‘group hug’ tip
THE Voice host EMMA WILLIS thought the band would need a group counselling session to discuss their problems before re-forming.
Husband Matt – who battled drink and drugs after Busted ended – explained: “When we (the Busted boys) came back from America, the first thing Emma said was, ‘Did you get a lot off your chest?’ I said ‘No’.”
And James added: “We didn’t need therapy. It wasn’t like that.”
Despite her concerns, Matt said Big Brother beauty Emma was delighted the lads were reuniting.
He added: “She knows how much Busted meant to me, how slightly unfinished it was for me and how much I bang on about it.
“She’s pleased this is happening so I can shut up about it for a while.”
Busted’s Wags, who include Charlie’s wife Anna Barnard and James’ girlfriend Portia Conn, still haven’t met. Charlie joked: “I hope they get on.”
Simp-son changed me
CHARLIE is still adjusting to becoming dad to baby Arlo.
Pulling out an adorable picture of the four-month-old boy on his phone, he said: “Life couldn’t be more different.
“Fatherhood is brilliant, he’s everything to me.”
James is the only member of the band who has not yet properly settled down. “I’m not engaged, sadly,” he said. “But it’s still been a real shake-up because I moved back to England from America to do the band again so life changed quite drastically for me.
“But I have a girlfriend and I’m very happy.”
Tickets for Busted’s 2016 Arena tour go on sale at 9am this Friday.
Stories so far
MATT
AFTER a stint in rehab and minor solo success, Matt got his career back on track when he won I’m A Celeb in 2006.
After acting roles in EastEnders and Birds of a Feather, Matt joined McBusted in 2013.
Now teetotal, Matt doesn’t blame his issues with drink and drugs on Busted. He said: “Me and that s**t don’t work well together.
“I don’t blame that on the band, I was on my way before that.
“All the people I know in recovery have similar stories, in whatever walk of life. It’s the same thing.”
JAMES
THE quiet man of Busted fittingly became the biggest recluse after the band split.
His new pop punk group, SON OF DORK, didn’t match the success of Busted and he eventually turned their debut album into a musical in 2009.
James then embarked on a solo career under his alter ego FUTURE BOY but it had little success.
James admits the Busted break-up was “sad” but he took the positives. He said: “I had a lot of cool experiences and wasn’t in debt.”
CHARLIE
THE Busted frontman hit the ground running with Fightstar with debut single Paint Your Target a Top Ten in 2005.
Two solo albums followed but his best single only got to No44.
Charlie married in 2014, when McBusted were on tour, and admits his wife, who grew up in Kenya, knew nothing of Busted’s success.
He said: “She didn’t realise how big the band was because she wasn’t around at that time.
“When we went to America she said, ‘Make sure it feels right and if it doesn’t, don’t do it’.”