James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Jay of Busted announce their split during a press conference today. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Another boy band bites the dust. But, a few thousand pre-pubescents and Michael Howard aside, who cares? There'll be another along in a minute - just as the laws of pop state that there shall be boy bands, it states that their lives shall be mercifully brief.
Yet despite their stage-school manufactured origins, Busted did things a little differently. Their carefully coiffured punk hair and attitudes might have been as authentic as Top Shop's heavy metal T-shirts, but they were a breath of fresh air after the bland safe prettiness of the likes of Boyzone and Westlife, with their ballads, bar stools and puppy dog eyes. They played their own instruments. They wrote their own music.
Busted's official website points up the band's impressive achievements: selling out 50 UK arenas including Wembley Arena 11 times, four number ones, and a pair of million-selling albums. The trio's drinking and partying ensured they were never far from the tabloids, while their involvement in last year's Band Aid kept them in the public eye, even if most of us can only name a couple of their songs.
And yet for several months now, speculation had been rife about lead singer Charlie Simpson's commitment to being kindergarten's favourite pop pin-up. "Busted's cod-punk songs about adolescent traumas were clearly intended to snare a more self-aware brand of teenybopper. Instead, they have attracted fans so young, they make your average Westlife screamer look as grizzled as Methuselah," wrote Alexis Petridis, reviewing the band in March. You can see why Simpson might have thought it wasn't working.
"Lots of people say to me 'I hate Busted'. 'That's completely cool with me. I understand why," he told the Sun today. His comments are revealing - few pop stars are prepared to admit on the record they know they're not making great art.
Simpson will now be concentrating on new band Fightstar, who begin a tour tonight at Warwick University. While there's little doubt that Simpson is an accomplished musician, playing your own instruments and looking a bit gritty and authentic is unlikely to be enough to win Fightstar any grown-up fans.
• Imogen Tilden
