Back in September 2025, James Bourne was forced to sit out of Busted’s tour with McFly.
The musician was set to perform across the UK and Ireland but announced he was withdrawing just 24 hours before the first show due to not being ‘in good enough health’.
And the 42-year-old has now shared a heartbreaking update, explaining he was awaiting major surgery.
Bourne is hoping to be able to get back to making music and performing, of course being known as the co-founder of both Busted and Son of Dork.
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The singer-songwriter wrote the majority of Busted’s two albums with Matt Willis, Charlie Simpson and Tom Fletcher and also has co-writing credits on McFly’s first four albums.
Having been involved in music for much of his life, the star said it ‘sucks to be out of the game’.
Breaking his Instagram silence, Bourne posted on his Stories last night to update fans on his health.
“I realised it’s been about six months since I posted last,” he wrote.
“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!”
Bourne has not disclosed information surrounding what type of surgery or what he is suffering with, citing a lack of information himself back in September.
The night before the Busted vs McFly tour was set to kick off, he wrote on Instagram: “As excited as I’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.”
Bourne continued: “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.”
Borune’s younger brother, Chris, (who appeared in Busted’s ‘Year 3000’ video) stepped in to replace him after bandmate Willis admitted it would be ‘f**king weird’ doing it without him.
He said during the tour: “James Bourne is really f***ing sick and we love him and we miss him. This is the first show we've ever played without him and it's really weird.”
Jess Battison