BUSTED made a triumphant return to London’s O2 Arena on Sunday night and were in fighting form.
The group, made up of Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis and James Bourne, performed a string of their biggest hits including Year 3000 and Air Hostess, in front of a packed out crowd.
But the band, who will drop their new album, Greatest Hits 2.0 on Friday, couldn’t help but take a pop at their music rivals McFly during their performance.
Matt said: “We’ve got a new album coming out.
“I’m trying to be zen these days but do you know what p***** me off?
“We’ve never had a number one album. McFly have had two.”
A rowdy fan was heard bellowing, “F**k McFly,” to which Matt hit back: “No, don’t f**k McFly, they don’t need any more kids.
“They don’t have any f**king room on stage.”
Busted exclusively announced they were reforming in The Sun earlier this year.
Speaking about their comeback in March, James said: “It’s out of this world that we get to do this and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
“It’s going to be wicked.”
Asked if he could ever imagine a comeback when he quit the group 18 years ago, Charlie added: “No.
“On that day I didn’t.
“I’m glad that we split up that day because it allowed us to do this and come back together.”
Matt continued: “People have asked me, ‘Do you regret splitting up?’
“And I don’t.
“It was s**t towards the end of Busted.
“It was a really bad vibe in the camp and it felt like the right time to stop that.
“Now it feels like how it’s meant to feel.
“It feels like the very beginning again.
“Right now it feels like it’s barely even begun.”
During a two-year period from 2002 to 2004, they scored a run of eight consecutive top three singles including four No1s such as You Said No, Crashed The Wedding and Who’s David.
Their 20th anniversary was due to take place last year but they admitted “a slight pandemic issue” meant it was pushed back.
But Charlie joked: “We are going to ignore that elephant in the room.”
