Who are Busted and McFly’s fans?

“I look back at the last 20 years, and I feel very humbled by the fact that I can still sit here today and do what I love to do…” So smiled Busted vocalist/guitarist Charlie Simpson in a Kerrang! interview last year, when his band announced a whopping joint tour with McFly. In fact, both pop-rock titans are bigger and more popular than they’ve ever been, currently on the road for a truly immense co-headline run – dubbed Busted vs. McFly – of sold-out arenas up and down the UK.

To celebrate, and with that element of friendly competition in mind, we headed to London’s OVO Arena Wembley to meet the fans, find out who they love more and why, and ask what they’d get up to in the year 3000…

How long have you been fans of Busted or McFly?
Paige: “I got into McFly first. Me and Taylor are together and he converted me to Busted. I’ve only probably been into them for the past five years. Before that I was hardcore McFly. I feel like a bit of a traitor now! My first gig was McFly and I was 12, so what’s that? Twenty years?”
Taylor: “Busted from day dot! I went to their first gig and McFly were supporting them. I like them both, but Busted have a special place in my heart.”

Why do you think they’re both still so popular?
Paige: “For me, all of them have stayed relevant in the sense of who they are. Not just in the music but in who they are as people. I feel like I can relate to them – let me know if this is too deep, but when McFly came out about having mental health battles: Tom [Fletcher] with his bipolar. I have a personality disorder so that relatability to them as people has been really important to me. There’s also a lot of young people here, too, which I find surprising, but I love that they can relate to them.”
Taylor: “They do a very nice mix of light-hearted, fun stuff and then they also do some quite sentimental and emotional things. I like the mix of both.”
Paige: “Music connects people, right? And connecting on what Taylor said, this mix helps bring people together. And that’s what being in a band is about: friendship. Even if they’re supposedly on different sides, there’s a great atmosphere.”

If you went to the year 3000, what would you do?
Paige: “Because I’m a wheelchair user, I’d hope that they’d have some kind of levitating platform that I can go super-fast and super-high on. I’d probably just drive around like a mad woman: like a GTA mad woman on a hovercraft.”
Taylor: “Honestly, I would hope there’s a car that can fly as well as go underwater so I can do trips all around the world, all in one vehicle.”

What other bands are you into?
Paige: “We’ve been to loads of concerts recently – You Me At Six are one of my favourites and we have couples tattoo of them. We saw them on their farewell tour and they were amazing. Fightstar as well, we saw them here at the OVO Arena, their one-off show. What I’ve learned in this relationship is that I just really like Charlie Simpson…”
Taylor: “Hawthorne Heights. I saw them at Slam Dunk a couple of years ago.”
Paige: “Boys Like Girls.”
Taylor: “Enter Shikari.”

And what are you wearing today?
Paige: “I’m wearing a Busted tour T-shirt from last year, and some jeans.”
Taylor: “I’m wearing a little cartoon Chewbacca T-shirt that says ‘This Cookie Is Chewy’ and a pair of jeans.”

How long have you been Busted or McFly fans?
Flora: “Since day one.”
Charis: “Since What I Go To School For, I’d say!”
Flora: “Then McFly, did they come later?”
Charis: “We have two friends coming along tonight – they’re more McFly, and we’re more Busted.”
Flora: “We did actually have a Busted CD where the leaflet inside is ripped in half because we were fighting over it…”

Why do you think they’re both still popular now?
Flora: “Catchy songs! And I think it helps that McFly, whenever the boys enter anything, they win it. I’m A Celeb, Strictly, etc. They’re very likeable.”
Charis: “They’re really fun, too. And it’s quite timeless music.”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
Charis: “Well, we’d live underwater.”
Flora: “So I guess invest in some good swimwear.”
Charis: “A good wetsuit. Decorate a really cool house with shells.”

What other bands do you listen to?
Charis: “I saw Coldplay just recently at Wembley Stadium, which was cool.”
Flora: “I think the last band I saw was One Direction.”
Charis: “We like music from the boyband category in general.”

What are your outfits today?
Flora: “I tried to embrace What I Go To School For meets Air Hostess.”
Charis: “And then I just thought I’d show my allegiance to Busted instead of McFly. I also sprained my thumb, but thought it’d go with the skater vibe.”
Flora: “We didn’t even plan our outfits, we just accidentally co-ordinated.”

How long have you been a Busted or McFly fan?
“Since the origin! They’ve always been there for me. My allegiance is with Busted. They were my first concert, but I was also on the McFly street team once upon a time.”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
“It’s just fun music. A little bit of nostalgia for some people, and for people like myself who it never became nostalgic to because it was always there. They’re such a fun energy with fun lyrics and they put on really good shows. I’ve seen them both a few times and it’s always good.”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
“I’d probably just see what the food is like – is it real food, am I eating it? Or am I just having it in pill format? IV drips? Like, what is it? We might be underwater, it might just be mountain ranges left. We’ll see!”

What other bands are you into?
“How long do we have?! There’s a lot. I like Sleep Token – they’re more recent for me. Kneecap! I saw them last night. Pierce The Veil, Mumford & Sons, The Zutons. I saw Mahalia, PinkPantheress, so I’ve got a very wide range of things I like.”

And what’s your outfit today?
“This is Named Collective! These are just a vintage pair of jeans, and I’ve got some New Rocks because I’m short.”

How long have you been a Busted or McFly fan?
“Since as long as I can remember. Busted were my first CD, if we remember those? And I was always going onto the MTV channels and watching all the music videos.”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
“The people who liked them as kids now have enough disposable income – I’m going to go from a marketing point of view as that’s my job. They now have enough purchasing power to spend money at these things. I think tapping into that nostalgic trend: everything is shit at the moment and they help to remember the nice times. And it’s just fun. If your parents didn’t let you go as a kid, you can go as an adult now!”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
“It’d be interesting to see what the hell has happened since, it’d be interesting to see how the environment changes. Y’know, like all the tectonic plates move around… are we physically connected to the U.S. now?!”

What other bands are you into?
“I’m similar to Teneil [above]. I have such a broad range of music – everything from electronic to more traditional rock. I’m scrolling through my Spotify as I forget. I’ve seen Nia Archives a few times, she’s very cool. She’s from Yorkshire and she’s bringing back British jungle music which is quite interesting. NewDad are really cool – they’re an Irish band. I saw them at Glastonbury and I love their stuff. I really like Doechii, Wolf Alice, Kneecap, Pierce The Veil, Bring Me The Horizon…”

What is your outfit today?
“My jeans are ASOS and I’ve got Docs because I’m also short. Pink hiking socks. And my top is Daisy Street.”

How long have you been a Busted or McFly fan?
“I’m a McFly fan because Busted suck (laughs). No, but I’ve liked McFly for maybe 20 years. I never really listened to Busted, but I’ve never hated them.”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
“Because they’re hot! They’re really, really fun. And kinda like Olivia [above] was saying: people of our generation have money now. Plus, it’s just a really fun way to disconnect.”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
“Be amazed that humanity still exists.”

What other bands are you into?
“Recently it’s been a big mix of Andrew W.K., who I think is coming back! And Funeral For A Friend. I’ve seen them a few times this year. I don’t know if you remember a band from when we were teenagers, called Johnny Panic. I rediscovered them. The singer is actually Matt [from Busted]’s personal trainer.”

What is your outfit today?
“The epitome of a pop-punk fan. Adult chequered Vans. Cut-up jeans and a cut-off McFly shirt which I tie-dyed as it got really stained with dust at Download.”

How long have you both been into Busted or McFly?
Christopher: “Both for the majority of my life – nearly 20 years. I can vaguely remember when the news came out about Busted splitting, so that’s how long!”

Was that a sad time for you?
Christopher: “I remember being upset about it. But I definitely lean a little bit more towards McFly.”
Tom: “I think I was born listening to them. He’s my older brother, so I always listened to them.”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
Christopher: “Well, there’s obviously the nostalgia factor. Especially with Busted, and their classic songs. But I think that when it comes to McFly, their music has always evolved and is still absolutely fantastic. I maintain that Tom Fletcher is absolutely phenomenal. They’ve obviously gone away and had various experiences, had families, they had their hiatus. And I think that because they’ve lived life, gone away and brought things back, it’s allowed them to grow from just teenagers making songs. I think that’s why they continually remain popular.”
Tom: “Yeah, they’re not just doing the same thing and trying to fit in. They’re always trying new things.”

If you could go to the year 3000 right now, what would you do?
Christopher: “There’s so many books I’d want to read.”
Tom: “I’d have to buy the seventh album, right?”
Christopher: “That’s true…”

What other bands are you listening to?
Tom: “I’ll be honest, it’s mainly Green Day, McFly and a bit of Busted for me. That’s my three.”
Christopher: “Paramore. And I also really enjoy Bear McCreary – I absolutely love that stuff.”

What are you wearing today?
Christopher: “I’ve got a Busted shirt on.”
Tom: “I’ve just got a Transformers TV shirt on – nothing band related!”

How long have you both been Busted or McFly fans?
Andrew: “McFly fan… Jesus, since whenever Five Colours In Her Hair came out [in 2004]. A long time ago.”
Nikki: “Yeah, it was Five Colours…, and then I went down the Busted route for a while before falling away from it. I fell in love with McFly again because of this guy!”
Andrew: “When McBusted came out there was a big resurgence of them.”
Nikki: “It became amazing again, and now we’ve been to see them the last three years running.”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
Nikki: “Because Tom is fucking adorable.”
Andrew: “They’re fun, aren’t they? And they’re like the last pop-punk band – well, British pop-punk band.”
Nikki: “It’s always good fun, and we also love when Danny [Jones] does Red. Red is an amazing song. Somehow they remain on the cusp of cheesy, cute and fucking awesome.”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
Andrew: “See if they have flying cars… or, actually, women with three breasts.”
Nikki: “Oh, come on!”
Andrew: “It’s in the video!”
Nikki: “It is in the video. I’d wanna know if we found Atlantis yet. Because if we can breathe underwater then I’d want to know if we’d found it.”

What other bands are you both listening to?
Nikki: “Feeder.”
Andrew: “They’re our favourite band. I think I’ve seen them 17 or 18 times.”
Nikki: “Muse, Pink, The Gaslight Anthem, blink-182! They’re a big one but that’s mostly because of the banter. And it’s the same with Nickelback – their show is full of the funnies, and we love a funny show.”

What are you both wearing today?
Nikki: “I don’t know who Greta Van Fleet are, I just thought it was an amazing T-shirt. I will check them out, though. Vans. Lucy & Yak trousers because they’re comfy as shit. And the world’s oldest shirt that I paint and do crafts in. Along with a bear because my nephew left it at my house.”
Andrew: “I’m not gonna sound very rock’n’roll at all… I’ve got a Vans hoodie, a Next T-shirt and an Oakley flat cap.”

How long have you both been into Busted or McFly?
Ella: “Cerri is my girlfriend, and via her I’ve started going to McFly and Busted shows with her in the past few years. But she’s been to a lot.”
Cerri: “I think this is my 30th gig. My mum brought me up with McFly so they were always my band.”
Ella: “The first time I saw Busted was actually at Download [in 2024].”
Cerri: “And McFly at Download this year were great. When they did the wall of death to All About You…”

Why do you think they’re still so popular now?
Cerri: “Personally on this tour with McFly and Busted I think it’s a huge nostalgia trip. They both separately played Download as well so I think they’re bringing in different people and also people who enjoyed them in their youth.”
Ella: “I feel like a lot of people have kids and then raise their kids on what they liked, so it’s a generational thing which is nice.”

If you could go to the year 3000, what would you do?
Ella: “Check and see if One Direction are touring again.”
Cerri: “That is such a good answer!”

What other bands are you both listening to?
Ella: “Kneecap – we came last night to see them. And I’m seeing Pierce The Veil here again next week. It goes anything from One Direction and 5 Seconds Of Summer to Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot.”
Cerri: “Since I met Ella I’ve been getting into heavier bands. And I also work at Church – Temple Of Fun in Sheffield. Since then I’ve gone heavier.”
Ella: “Don Broco are great.”
Cerri: “Yeah, I really love Don Broco’s new stuff.”

What are you wearing today?
Ella: “A skirt from Vinted. The shoes are Cerri’s. The top is Drop Dead – free from Cerri’s work. And then a Free Palestine badge from the Kneecap show last night.”

Get your Busted Vs. McFly tour tickets now.

Read this next:

• Busted vs. McFly: “There’s no rules… this is going to be different to anything anyone’s seen”
• From Deftones to Jon Hopkins: The icons who inspired Charlie Simpson
• Busted: “The new bands coming out now have been quite vocal about how influenced they were by us… it’s really humbling”