Arabic version: جيمس بورن يشكر شقيقه على تبرعه بكلية

According to BBC News, Busted guitarist James Bourne has said his younger brother Chris “saved my life” by donating a kidney. Bourne, 43, said doctors had told him he had “a few years left to live” before the transplant operations.

The musician withdrew from an arena tour featuring Busted and McFly in September 2025, a day before it was due to begin, citing health problems. Chris Bourne replaced him on the tour.

James Bourne had previously said he required major surgery to extend his life. In a message posted on Monday, he said his condition had been serious and thanked Chris for donating one of his kidneys. “I can’t believe how much better I’m starting to feel already,” he wrote, adding that both brothers were recovering well from surgery.

Chris Bourne posted on X: “We did it brother.” James Bourne has not disclosed further details about his condition.

Bourne found fame with Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis in Busted in the early 2000s. The group had four UK number one singles before splitting in 2005, and reunited in 2015 after Bourne and Willis had formed McBusted with McFly.