Former Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson releases covers EP after winning TV's The Masked Singer as 'Rhino'

By Paul Brannigan
published

Hear Charlie Simpson's covers of Snow Patrol, Kings Of Leon and Lewis Capaldi hits on new EP

Charlie Simpson
(Image credit: Charlie Simpson - David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images / Rhino - ITV)

Former Fightstar frontman/Busted vocalist Charlie Simpson has released a new four-track EP, Kifaru, after winning TV's The Masked Singer as 'Rhino'.

Simpson was crowned as the 2023 winner of the ITV show on Saturday, February 18. Among the other contestants on the series were former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, and Lulu as Piece Of Cake. 

Simpson's new EP features three songs that he performed on the show -  Lewis Capaldi’s Before You Go, Kings Of Leon’s Use Somebody, and Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars, plus the 'LA Mix' of his own song I See You.

"I had such a good time on The Masked Singer, it was such a crazy ride," says Simpson. “I decided to release some of my favourite songs from the show but in a very stripped-back way, which also captures the ethos of my latest solo record Hope Is A Drug, which is my most intimate album yet. I have also added an entirely new version of I See You, which was my first release from Hope Is A Drug. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Watch the moment that Rhino was unmasked on the show below:

And listen to the EP below:

Following his exit from The Masked Singer at the semi-final stage, Richie Sambora revealed that he's been in talks to rejoin Bon Jovi.

"I love being a guitar player and a songwriter," added Sambora. "And of course I’m very privileged and honoured to have had so much success and the accolades of being a Grammy winner, an Ivor Novello Award winner and a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, but what I really love to do is sing!" 

"My hiatus from Bon Jovi and the Covid impact on my solo touring meant I could only do one thing which is make a new record until I saw The Masked Singer! I loved it and it was a lot of fun to watch it at a time where due to lockdowns and being forced to be at home the world was a little quieter than it had been since Bon Jovi kicked off 37 years ago."

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.