Busted reform with original lineup, announce UK and Ireland tour

Admit it, it's the reunion none of us thought would ever happen, not at least until the Year 3000 – but today the impossible did happen and Busted are back!

And that's the original lineup too – Matt, James and Charlie.

At a press conference in London, the original members of Busted announced they were reforming for a UK and Ireland tour – and that there's new music on the way.

The band originally split in January 2005, when Charlie Simpson decided he wanted to concentrate on his then-side project Fighstar. Matt and James didn't want to carry on as a duo, so the band was over.

Charlie revealed he had been previously approached about rejoining Busted three years ago – after not seeing the guys for around eight years – but decided the time wasn't right. But it did mean the former bandmates started hanging out again.

MORE: Busted's Official Top 10 singles

The two other members of Busted joined forces with McFly to form supergroup McBusted for a successful tour and a Top 10 album, but Charlie insisted he made the right decision. "I wasn't jealous," said the star, who's now ditched his trademark peroxide locks. "I was just really glad the boys were having such a good time." In fact, he even sent along some of the Simpson clan to support the boys. "My mum and dad went to McBusted's Ipswich shows," said Charlie, with James adding, "We saw them in the crowd!"

The reunion came about when James and Charlie spent more time together and realised they had much more in common musically than when they were together in the band. Eventually, Matt and James asked Charlie if he'd join them in the recording studio just to hang out and maybe record some new stuff – and things clicked.

The band have announced they will go on tour – their first time on the road all together since 2004 – starting at Wembley in May 2016.

All the dates:

May 2016

Wednesday 11: London – Wembley SSE Arena
Saturday 14: Glasgow – SSE Hydro
Sunday 15: Newcastle – Metro Radio Arena
Tuesday 17: Sheffield – Sheffield Arena
Wednesday 18: Nottingham – Capital Arena
Friday 20: Birmingham – Genting Arena
Saturday 21: Manchester – Manchester Arena
Sunday 22: Liverpool – Echo Arena
Tuesday 24: Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena
Wednesday 25: Bournemouth – BIC
Saturday 28: London O2
Monday 30: Belfast – SSE Arena
Tuesday 31: Dublin – 3 Arena

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 13 November at Livenation.co.uk

When it comes to performing the old hits, Charlie claimed the song he really can't wait to sing again is Air Hostess.

And as for new music? Matt said it's definitely happening. "It might even be before the tour, who knows?" 

Watch this space!

MORE: See all Busted's hit singles and albums in their Official Chart archive

Image: REX