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From FIGHTSTAR to PRESIDENT | The Reinvention That Paid Off

Primordial Radio

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President’s rise may appear sudden, but it's been years in the making. What looks like overnight success has roots in two decades of rock credibility, public assumptions, and unfinished business.

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From Busted to Fightstar and now President, we look at how Charlie Simpson spent years trying to shake the “Guy from Busted” label while building real credibility in the UK rock scene.

Whilst Fightstar had to earn respect the hard way, they never broke through quite as widely as many fans felt they deserved. President arrives in another world entirely: no names, no faces, and barely any music before Download Festival 2025, yet the momentum is immediate.

So is President the moment Charlie Simpson finally gets heard on his own terms by the rock and metal community?

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#president #fightstar #charliesimpson

20 Comments

@ClayColeyMusic 4 months ago

President is my fav band right now

@CoCoCourt43 4 months ago

I saw President on the Bad Omens tour and they were amazing, I was seriously impressed. His voice is incredible and I'm now a huge fan!

@thedegoose 4 months ago

As soon as I heard president I knew that was Charlie, I have all the fightstar albums, saw them live 3 times and wow when I heard President I thought when did fightstar come back, his voice and sound is very distinctive.

@Bluyoshiii 4 months ago

You cannot mistake his voice and singing style, its like a fingerprint. He is Charlie (:

@MosesCuzDogGaming 4 months ago

It always pains me that fightstar never got the recognition they fully deserved. Best british rock band of all time for me. A real unique blend of strong influences but they always sounded like fightstar.

@danutd94 3 months ago

All he’s ever wanted is the freedom to express himself as an artist and have that art be judged on its own merits. Busted were scoffed at and dismissed as a “manufactured cash cow”, Fightstar never got the acclaim or respect they deserved because of the Busted connection, so now he starts an anonymous project intending to have the music speak for itself without any stigma and everyone immediately starts making “PRESIDENT IDENTITY REVEALED” videos like this. It’s a shame people won’t just respect the guy and let him do his thing without having to undermine everything he tries to do creatively.

@Anty2004 4 months ago

Palahniuks laughter is still one of my favourite metal songs of all time

@myohmyDesign 4 months ago

You forgot to mention his time on the Masked Singer that also helped inform his creative deciscion.

@fredshavers 4 months ago (edited)

Great video man. I love charlie and feel he is one of the most underrated musicians in the last 20 years or so.

If president keeps blowing up he deserves it and maybe down the line we'll get more fightstar

@Mandrakegnome 3 months ago

Thank you, I had no idea about Fightstar and the origins of President!

@OscarBenben 2 weeks ago (edited)

I think Charlie is paying too much attention on what people think of him and his music. I think he’s an incredibly talented overall musician and an underrated vocalist.
Haters are just noise, he should focus on music, not on what people bark about it.

We all carry some préjugés in our history and Unfortunately people aren’t always nice or driven by good intentions when they juge us or our music. We have to stay solid and keep doing what we love and Cherish: Music and keeping on driving messages via this form of art.
We’re together in this.

@richenelluydens-rgl463 4 months ago

It's a shame that Busted did cast a shadow on Fightstar. Fightstar's music is absolutely brilliant. Still one of my all time favorite bands. Grand Unification is an amazing record!

@WickedColdClown 3 months ago

Love Fightstar. One of my favorite bands. Still have hope we’ll get more music from them.

@Theabsolution86 4 months ago

I am so sad, I just recently discovered Charlies voice. I missed out a lot. He is sooo talented. I am so happy if he gets all the recognition he deserves.

@Unbornchikkenable 3 months ago (edited)

To be honest, I’ve never heard of Fightstar or Busted, but at the Graspop Festival in 2026, President was the best positive surprise for me.
To some extent, I can see the comparison between President and Sleep Token, whom I heard for the first time last year at RAR. The atmosphere, however, is something else entirely. I like both now, though President has a very high density of excellent songs in my opinion. Its really catchy and addictive. Great synths and other modern elements. And the heaviness is on point for me. You can tell that great and experienced artists are at work. Hail to the President!

@stack12190 4 months ago

Fell in love with Gunship and President this year but never really gave Fightstar a chance. Gonna have to change that.

@TheJman734 4 months ago

Fightstar was a massive part of me growing up even Busted was also. That night at Wembley with Fightstar was absolutely blown away by it. I feel President is what Fightstar would have became if it wasn’t so hated because of the Busted split.

Even now looking back at the previous Busted shows, some of the songs getting their own remake felt like the evolution Busted needed the more gritty rock than pop rock sound.

@Fitbev242Adventures 4 months ago

At this point, I would listen to anything Charlie Simpson (except Busted is not my thing but I’m old). I didn’t even know who he was before President came out but I’ve done an extensive deep dive & was initially sad that I had missed out on this voice & talent for the last 20+ years……but I’m happy to experience it now & can’t wait to hear more!

@kaitodes330 3 days ago

First time I went to a gig for Funeral For a Friend in Osaka, Japan. I saw Fightstar as the pre-band, I had no clue who Charlie was nor Busted. I straight loved that band since then til now. and a few weeks ago, I was in the stream of rock music on YouTube and head President for the first time without knowing who the band was. I thought Fightstar was back.

@marioalcazar9373 3 days ago

I love this band saw them with bad omens and loved them so much I drove three hours to see them again a week ago to a place id never even been worth it