Busted Matt's Hellish Year

Matt WillisMatt Willis (aka Matt Jay) has been spilling the beans about his year from hell.

And what got him through Busted's split and a stint in rehab for alcohol addiction?

Nothing more than the love of a good woman - his girlfriend, MTV presenter Emma Griffiths.

Matt was chatting as he played his new solo material at a gig in London's La Scala.

"I wasn't always sure I'd be able to bounce back after the year I had," he told The Daily Mirror.

"Most of the songs on my new album are inspired from the year after Busted split. And one in particular is inspired by Emma.

"A cutting of her driving me back from rehab really hit me. One of the songs was based on that."

Matt with Emma GriffithsMatt won over a hard-to-impress music industry crowd at the Scala, with comparisons to Green Day and Robbie Williams. His new sound is definitely Busted, grown up.

But the person he most wants to impress is Emma.

"I was stuck for what to get her or her birthday. So I flew her best friend in from LA, who she hadn't seen for years... Let's just say I earned loads of brownie points."

Job done, we'd say.