Two of the world’s greatest pop-punk bands, Busted and McFly, have just announced details of an unmissable head-to-head tour.
Busted last night stormed the stage at McFly’s 21st birthday show to announce Busted Vs McFly, which will include huge arena shows in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
The two groups, which are collectively behind some of the biggest pop-rock hits of the last two decades, will be visiting some of the biggest venues around the UK.
The shows announced (so far) on the Busted vs McFly tour include the AO Arena in Manchester, the Utilita Arena in Sheffield and the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
As of Thursday 17 October, they’ve just added a second date in Manchester ‘due to phenomenal demand’.
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It’s all set to take place next autumn, with both groups challenging each other to a live battle on stage.
Speaking of the tour, McFly threw down the gauntlet and commented: “Busted gatecrashed our show tonight (not cool), and challenged us to a VS tour next year. They’re old men now, and we are gonna blow them and their carers off the stage next year.
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“We’ve had a great time celebrating our 21st birthday this week and next year is going to be even better. P.S. Busted Suck.”
Busted fought back and added: “There’s been a lot of talk recently…. This is where the talking ends….! We are ready to show who is the better band once and for all. McFly suck and Busted Rock!”
Busted. Credit: Publicity pictureMcFly. Credit: Publicity pictureMcFly and Busted announce massive joint head-to-head tour – with Manchester arena gig
Busted’s biggest hits over the years have included Year 3000, Crashed The Wedding, and Air Hostess, while McFly have been responsible for hits like All About You, Five Colours In Her Hair, and Star Boy.
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Just last year Busted scored a number one album position with Greatest Hits 2.0, and sold out 26 UK arena gigs.
Meanwhile McFly’s seventh album Power To Play hit the number two spot on the UK Albums Chart last year, joined by a run of massive shows, including two sold-out gigs at the O2 Arena to mark 21 years since the release of their debut.
Busted vs McFly will now perform at the AO Arena in Manchester on 17 and 18 October 2025.
Tickets for the unmissable Busted vs McFly tour go on sale via artist pre-sale HERE from 9am on 16 October, and general tickets are on sale on 18 October at 9am HERE.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”
Major star pulls out of Parklife festival due to ‘scheduling conflict’
Daisy Jackson
One of the biggest attractions of this year’s Parklife festival line-up has pulled out just weeks before the event.
Rising star and TikTok sensation Lola Young will no longer be performing at the huge Manchester festival.
She’s the voice behind ‘Messy’, that song you can’t get out of your head (or off your For You Page), and has already earned herself two BRIT Award nominations.
Lola Young was one of the biggest names announced on this year’s Parklife line-up, which has headline slots from Charli XCX, 50 Cent, Jorja Smith and Peggy Gou.
She was set to perform on the Saturday of the festival, taking place on 14 and 15 June.
But Parklife has now confirmed that Lola Young has dropped out of the lineup owing to a ‘scheduling conflict’.
In a post on Instagram they wrote: “Due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict Lola Young will not be performing at Parklife 2025.
“We would like to apologise for any disappointment.
“Full set times will be published at 5pm Tuesday 20th May on the PL25 App where we will also be announcing some surprise additions to the weekend in the run up to the festival.”
Parklife will be taking place next month in Manchester – you can keep up with the latest HERE and grab final tickets HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
10th October 2024 
