Busted's James Bourne Thanks Brother for Kidney Donation
Busted guitarist James Bourne has said his younger brother Chris saved his life by donating a kidney. Bourne, 43, said doctors had told him he had "a few years left to live" before the transplant.
He announced the operation in a message on Monday. "Wow, what the hell happened?" he wrote. "One minute you're heading out on tour, the next thing you know you're on the bench and out of the game." He said his youngest brother, who had stepped in for him on tour the previous year, "has saved my life yet again. This time quite literally by donating me one of his kidneys."
Both brothers are recovering. "I can't believe how much better I'm starting to feel already," Bourne wrote. "I'm still going to need some time, but I wanted you to know that we're both recovering from surgery just fine. My brother is a hero." Chris posted a message of his own on X that read simply: "We did it brother."
Pulled out a day before the tour
Bourne dropped out of an arena tour with Busted and McFly in September 2025, a day before it began. He blamed health problems, and Chris took his place on the tour. Bourne later said he needed major surgery to "extend my life". He has not given further details of his condition.
Busted formed with Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis in the early 2000s and had eight top 10 hits in the UK between 2002 and 2004. Their hits included What I Go To School For, Year 3000 and Crashed the Wedding, and four of their singles went to number one in the UK. The trio split in 2005.
In 2013, Bourne and Willis joined forces with McFly as McBusted, and Simpson rejoined Busted for a full reunion in 2015. Outside the band, Bourne has written songs for McFly and 5 Seconds of Summer, and he has also fronted his own group, Son of Dork. He recently released the music from his stage musical, Murder at the Gates.
Source: BBC News