James Bourne and Matt Willis originally auditioned for another band which neither of them made it into. They remained friends for a number of years and wrote material together. Willis claimed that they had been inspired by Green Day, Blink-182 and BBMak. Busted were formed in early 2000, after open auditions were held by Warner Music to form a new band, and originally consisted of Bourne, Willis, Ki Fitzgerald and Owen Doyle, although this version of the band broke up later that year. Charlie Simpson and Tom Fletcher auditioned to be in the band and were both offered a place to complete the lineup. 24 hours later, however, Busted's manager told Fletcher via a phone call that the band was to go ahead as a trio, comprising Bourne, Willis and Simpson.