Charlie Simpson, 39, has defiantly stood by his band Busted’s best-known hits from the noughties amid today’s era of cancel culture and political correctness.
Alongside Matt Willis, 41, and James Bourne, 40, the trio shot to stardom with tracks like Air Hostess, What I Go To School For, Year 3000 and many more.
While the three-piece boyband dominated the charts as teenagers, their loyal fanbase remains over two decades on, with dates in Australia, Japan, and Mexico as well as the UK penned in for later this year.
They also re-recorded some of their best-known smash hits for their Greatest Hits album last year, which bagged them a UK number one.
However, a handful of lyrics and themes from some of the band’s biggest singles have come under scrutiny in recent times.
In What I Go To School For, the boys sing about lusting after a female teacher who’s 33 while they portray students in the music video, suggesting that the feelings are reciprocated.
Busted: Charlie Simpson is one-third of the band alongside James Bourne and Matt Willis
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Their track Air Hostess included verses that sexualised the plane attendants with lyrics such as: “I messed my pants… when we flew over France. Will I see you soon in my hotel room?”
But Simpson stands by the records released by the trio and explained he won’t be changing the lyrics even when performing today.
“It was a different time,” he said in defence of the band’s records. “Some of the lyrical content of those songs we just wouldn’t write now.
“There’s definitely that kind of [icky] feeling, but they’re so well known by our audience that it doesn’t really matter.
Busted: The band shot to stardom in the early 2000s
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“It’s not like we’re coming out with a new song that sounds like those old songs, or lyrics that sound like those.
“It captures a moment in time so we can just play them on and on,” he told Metro.
While Simpson and his bandmates don’t feel the need to rewrite their biggest hits, it’s a trend seen among some of the world’s most popular musicians following PC pile-ons.
Rock band Paramore, global superstar Taylor Swift and Grammy winner Lizzo are just three who’ve succumbed to pressure.
Simpson isn’t alone in his thinking as bandmate Bourne issued a similar response when probed on the same subject back in 2020.
Speaking to the same publication as Simpson, he said: “I’m not sure if I would go back and change things but I don’t think they would be written now.
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“First of all we’re a lot older now, and those lyrics are quite young.
“Listen to any band from the early 2000s, you’re gonna find a lot worse stuff.
“Obviously, I think, times change, don’t they? As times change, everyone evolves, and you try to do the right thing.
“Things change and times change and you try to be in tune with what’s going on but I don’t think we were as bad as other bands!”