Busted's James Bourne has provided a health update as he announced a major new project. Last year saw former music rivals Busted and McFly scheduled to go on tour. The Busted vs McFly tour was brilliant news for fans of the band, who previously joined forces as McBusted in 2013. However, just hours before the first show was due to kick off, James shared that he had to step away from the tour due to ill health.
He said on social media at the time: “The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in Birmingham and as excited as l've been all year for this tour to begin, I'm really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am not in good enough health to play these shows. There's a lot of information I still don't have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on the medical stuff for now. I really hope I can be in a position to come back further down the line. It's still going to be an amazing show and I will miss being there! See you all as soon as possible.”
With the tour going ahead as scheduled, including a show at Manchester’s AO Arena, James provided a health update back in April. He is yet to reveal what his diagnosis is. “I realised it's been about six months since I posted last. I have a plan in place to have a major surgery that should extend my life and hopefully make me well enough to come back to what I love the most which is touring and making music. It really sucks to be out of the game. But there is hope,” he wrote.
Receiving a flood of support from his friends and fans, James confirmed on Thursday (June 18) that he’s written a brand new musical. The project was made in collaboration with the famous American playwright Steven Sater, best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening. A new album, titled Murder At The Gates, will be released on July 1. It will feature songs from the show, which was 13 years in the making.
Speaking to The Sun in a new interview, James revealed that he was able to finish the project as a result of having to step away from his Busted duties due to his health issues. The stricken star admitted the only reason he has had a chance to complete it is due to being forced to step back from his commitments with the band because of his health issues. "With everything going on with my health, I have been given the gift of time. I was given a lot of time back when I wasn’t touring. It was like turning a negative into a positive. It was such a shame to have to drop out from the tour, because I love touring so much," he said.
James added: “I didn’t want my health to stop me from promoting this project because I’ve put 13 years of my life into it. There was a fear of not finishing it. It feels so good to now have this as a finished product.” With Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin Henderson on the Netflix series, one of the big names lending their vocals to the project, James teased that it has a ‘different feeling to all the other’ albums he’s made.
