{"id":749472,"date":"2026-08-25T17:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749472\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:58:17","slug":"james-bourne-seen-for-the-first-time-after-mystery-surgery-to-extend-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749472\/","title":{"rendered":"James Bourne seen for the first time after mystery surgery to ‘extend life\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Editorial
\n\t\tJames Bourne has made his first social media appearance after his health crisis (Picture: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Busted\u2019s<\/a> James Bourne <\/a>appears to be getting back to work after his abrupt exit from the band\u2019s last tour over health issues.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last September, James\u00a0pulled out of Busted\u2019s VS Tour with McFly<\/a>\u00a0just 24 hours before the first gig last year and has rarely been heard from since.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 42-year-old revealed in April that he had undergone surgery, hoping the\u00a0procedure would \u2018extend his life\u2019<\/a> but gave no further details.<\/p>\n

Promising more information at a later time, James did announce a 13-year-in-the-making megaproject <\/a>which turned out to be a new musical by Tony Award-winning US playwright Steven Sater.<\/p>\n

It appears the musical concept album is turning into a full stage show, with James visible in rehearsals on the Murder at the Gates TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a new video, he plays the keyboard while Isa Briones sings the track No One Sits on High.<\/p>\n

While his back was to the camera, fans were delighted to see he was playing music again after such a long time away.<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes, she really sounds like that live,\u2019 the caption read. \u2018Watch this behind the scenes footage of Isa Briones singing through \u2018No One Sits on High\u2019 for the first time with @James Bourne.\u2019<\/p>\n

One fan, Nuki, commented: \u2018James \ud83d\ude2d I\u2019m missing you so much thank you for this little appearance \ud83e\ude77 wishing you a fast recovery, dude!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018oh hiiii Jamessss \ud83d\udc4b\ud83c\udffb,\u2019 Carol Montemor added as JaxPJames wrote: \u2018James!! So good to see him doing well!\u2019<\/p>\n

In an earlier video of Isa singing, posted on August 14, James could be seen in the background, sitting down with headphones on.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"James
\n\t\tFans were delighted to see James performing (Picture: murderatthegates)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"James
\n\t\tHe announced a musical 13 years in the making while in recovery (Picture: murderatthegates)<\/p>\n

\u2018James in the bg I hope he\u2019s doing well and is taking a well-earned break and taking it steady \ud83d\ude4f,\u2019 commented Ella at the time.<\/p>\n

The musician, who rose to fame with Busted in the early 2000s, pulled out of the tour with just 24 hours to go. In a touching move, his brother Chris stepped in to replace him and toured with Busted\u2019s other two members, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson.<\/p>\n

James\u2019s bandmates\u00a0frequently mentioned him<\/a>\u00a0during the tour, with Matt telling fans through tears\u00a0he was \u2018really sick\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Love is Blind<\/a> host and Cabaret star previously told\u00a0Metro\u00a0that he\u00a0never wanted to tour without James again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was a real shame,\u2019 he said. \u2018We\u2019ve never done a show without James and it was really hard. There was a real moment of \u201care we gonna do this or not? Should we do this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We were\u00a0talking to him and he was like \u201cyou should still do it, I just can\u2019t be there.\u201d It was a really difficult time for us. It all happened so quickly.\u2019<\/p>\n

Danny Jones also told Metro how tough it was on McFly too,<\/a> as the group had worked closely with James throughout their career.<\/p>\n

He said the band just wanted their friend to get better, and teased that maybe they could do a Busted vs McFly tour again when he was ready.<\/p>\n

So far, James has not made any official announcements about his return, promising to share an update in his Spotify about section when he was ready.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"LONDON,
\n\t\tCharlie Simpson and Matt Willis went on tour without James for the first time (Picture: Jeff Spicer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In his original statement on his health, he wrote: \u2018The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in\u00a0Birmingham<\/a>\u00a0and as excited as l\u2019ve been all year for this tour to begin.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am\u00a0not in good enough health to play these shows \ud83d\ude41\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a lot of information I still don\u2019t have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on the medical stuff for now.<\/p>\n

\u2018I really hope I can be in a position to come back further down the line. It\u2019s still going to be an amazing show and I will miss being there! See you all as soon as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n


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