London, England-based pop trio formed in late 2001 by Charlie Simpson (b. 7 June 1985, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England; guitar/bass/vocals), Matt Jay (b. Matthew James Willis, 8 May 1983, Tooting, London, England; bass/vocals), and James Bourne (b. 13 September 1983, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England; drums/guitar/vocals). Marketed as a cleaner, parent-friendly version of US pop punk acts such as Blink-182 and Sum 41, the teenage trio spent their first few months as a band building up a school-aged fanbase by playing live sets at amusement parks and schools. This gruelling schedule was rewarded when the trio's debut single for MCA Records, "What I Go To School For", debuted at number 3 in the singles chart in September 2002. The follow-up "Year 3000", a lyrically inane but undeniably catchy slice of guitar pop, went one position higher in January 2003. The trio's self-titled debut album covered all the right bases, mixing up-tempo pop songs with a number of slushy ballads calculated to appeal to their young female fanbase.
Busted finally made it to the top of the UK chart in April with their third single, "You Said No", and repeated the feat seven months later with "Crashed The Wedding". The latter was taken from their hastily-recorded follow-up album, A Present For Everyone. The trio returned to the top of the charts the following February with "Who's David", and repeated the feat in August with the theme to the new Thunderbirds movie. Growing tension within the band was prompted by Simpson's distaste for the pop scene, and in January 2005 the trio announced they were splitting up. Simpson carried on working with his rock side project Fightstar, while Bourne launched Son Of Dork. Willis began a career as a solo artist.
