Busted have earned their first UK No. 1 album with ‘Greatest Hits 2.0’.
The trio – starring Charlie Simpson, James Bourne and Matt Willis – topped the Albums Chart with their best-of compilation, which becomes the first LP to reach the summit.
Speaking to Official Charts, they beamed: “We want to say thank you so, so much. We’ve got our first Official No. 1 album all thanks to you guys. Thanks so much to everyone who went out and bought it this week, you guys are incredible.
“We’re so happy, this one’s for you!”
To celebrate, the band arrived on stage holding their trophy during Friday’s (September 22) gig in Liverpool, while Matt marked the occasion with the ultimate throwback – bleaching a blonde streak in his hair.
Sharing a gallery of photos on Instagram, he penned: “I said I’d do something old school if we went No.1! Took it right back to 2002! I love everything about being in Busted right now!
“Thanks to everyone who has helped us get to this week! I am gonna try and soak every second in. Peace!”
Speaking to RETROPOP ahead of the release of the collection, which features re-recorded versions of classics like What I Go To School For, Year 3000 and Air Hostess, plus collaborations with McFly, Jonas Brothers and James Arthur, among others, the group shared their hopes that the record would top the charts.
“It’s the only thing missing on my fucking shelf,” laughed Charlie. “We have four No. 1 singles but I want that gold trophy in the middle!”
The group may be busy with a massive tour, which continues into October, but beyond their big plans for this year they’re already looking to the future and, according to Matt, their fifth studio album – the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Half Way There’ – is “in the pipeline”.
“We’re always thinking about the music,” he added. “Normally it takes that for us to press the button and the reason that this works is that we can re-record the songs with new people and it’s exciting. But moving forward, it will all be about new songs and that’s in the pipeline.
“The best thing about Busted now is that everything is us. Not that it wasn’t in the beginning, but we had a lot of other voices. Now, we listen to people because they know what they’re doing and they’re good at their jobs, but the buck stops with us.”
READ MORE: Busted: ‘20th Anniversary Tour will be our best yet – and then there’ll be new music…’ [Exclusive]
