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Charlie Simpson
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Jun 7, 2010 - 2:08:34 AM

The following is the Headmaster’s Address to the school in Assembly on Monday 7 June 2010

I was talking to a boy in Year 10 the other day and happened to mention a guy called Charlie Simpson. Some of you will have heard of him: he is in a band called ‘Fightstar’ and before that he was in another band called ‘Busted’.

I knew Charlie because I was his Housemaster at Uppingham School some years ago and we’ve kept in touch with him and his family on and off ever since. Charlie is one of the most musical people I have ever met. It is in his genes, too – his great-great-great-great grandfather was Sir William Sterndale Bennett, a distinguished English composer of the Romantic period, and his great-great grandfather was Robert Sterndale-Bennett, Director of Music at Uppingham School at around the time of the First World War.

Charlie was always into his music. I remember him performing in the Sixth Form Centre, playing the Nirvana song, ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’. It was clear to anyone there that night that this was someone with real ‘star quality’. Charlie was never happier than when he was performing. He was either making music or thinking about music. If you were sitting chatting to Charlie in the house he often had a guitar across his knee. If you were having lunch with him then he would be absent-mindedly drumming his fingers against the dining table, much to the irritation of those around him.

During the October half-term of 2001, when he had just started the Sixth Form, he went for an audition to get into an as-yet-unnamed band who had advertised for a third band member. His mum rang us to say that this was happening but there were more than 200 people auditioning, so she was sure he wouldn’t get it. She assured us that he would be back in time for the start of the second half of term. Then a day or so later, she rang back with more details: he was down to the final thirty so he might be a day late. By the time of the next phone call, he was down to the final three – but his mum had been told that he was probably too tall. A few days later, he got the nod – he was in, against all the odds.

Charlie never did come back to school. The band ‘Busted’ was formed and within a year their debut album was released. We took the whole house to see them in concert which was brilliant fun. Mrs Priestley and I even got a mention in the sleeve notes on their debut album – in the days when people bought CDs – my one very marginal claim to fame. For two or three years, Charlie toured and recorded with Busted, and had several top five hit singles and at least two number ones. Their albums sold in the millions. On the surface, things couldn’t have been going better.

But whilst Charlie was making plenty of money, he wasn’t fulfilled. Musically, what Busted were doing didn’t satisfy him. In more than one sense, I guess you could say that, as far as Charlie was concerned, ‘Busted’ was a long way from Nirvana. He wanted to be doing something much edgier, rockier – much less commercial, less poppy. So he left the band, and – despite rumours of a reunion earlier this year which Charlie has since quashed – he hasn’t looked back. He had already formed another band, Fightstar, who are much more alternative, much rockier. They are now doing really well and I know some of you think they are a fantastic band.

Charlie is a great guy, musically incredibly gifted, loyal and close to his friends and family. What I wanted to pick out, though, to share with you, was his courage. Not the courage to leave school when he got into Busted, but the courage to turn his back on the gravy train which was ‘Busted’ – instead of milking it for financial security, he left because it didn’t fulfil him musically. Money isn’t everything. Charlie didn’t like what he was doing because the music he was making didn’t fulfil him – it didn’t give him a sense of musical integrity. So, even though it made no sense financially, he left the band, walking out into an uncertain future, one which has turned out well but which could easily not have done so. We don’t all have Charlie’s musical talent – indeed, very few people do - but we will all face difficult choices like that. Decision-making isn’t just about reasoning – though that should always be a part of one’s most important decisions. But sometimes they will also require courage, even a leap of faith. I think Charlie is a good example of someone who found the courage to make the right choices.