Blink-182, the San Diego kings of pop-punk, have regrouped back together.
Tom DeLonge is rejoining bandmates Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker for the first time in seven years. The band announced on their website and social media platforms that they’ll be embarking on a tour around the world beginning in March 2023. The band will be dropping a brand new track, “Edging,” on Friday, and will release a brand new album set to be released.
DeLonge quit the band twice , and has since returned two times. In the past seven years Matt Skiba of the group Alkaline Trio has taken his place.
The group started in 1992, and began playing across San Diego in YMCAs, basements , and VFW halls prior to the release of their debut album Cheshire Cat in 1995 and getting the attention at major label. In 1997 the record Dude Ranch saw Blink-182 receive significant radio airplay for the track “Dammit.”
The original lineup included Scott Raynor on drums, Mark Hoppus on bass and Tom DeLonge on guitar, prior to Scott Raynor was fired in 1998 and replaced by Travis Barker. The lineup was firmly established for the group who recorded the album in 1999, Enema of the State, which would become a massive commercial success, with sales of more than 15 million albums.
The band was well-known for their humor as well as music video clips that regularly aired on MTV. In 2001, they released their debut album the album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and it went on to be their second-highest-selling album. In 2003, they released their self-titled album, which featured more mature music.
The band was strained due to tensions, which caused DeLonge to leave the band in 2005, and then forming The Group Angels and Airwaves, while Hoppus and Barker started their own group +44.
As of 2008, the group were reunited again following the time that Barker was almost dead in a plane crash which killed four people, and seriously hurt Adam Goldstein, known as “DJ AM.”
After Barker recuperated from his injuries Blink-182 returned to the road and released their 2011 album Neighborhoods. The group remained together for another seven years before DeLonge resigned the group once more due to creative differences.
In the following years DeLonge was involved in the funding of investigations into UFOs.
Alongside Skiba guitarist, the group released their albums California In 2016 as well as Nine in 2019.
On June 20, 2021 Mark Hoppus confirmed that his body had received a cancer diagnosis and was undergoing treatment.
In the final days of the year Hoppus declared that he was no longer suffering from cancer. Interview with People, Hoppus said the group had been spending time together before chemotherapy started and that the group was in “a really great place right now.” The bassist said: “I keep writing music, and I’m open to whatever the next phase of Blink is … I’m hopeful for the future. I’m just damn glad to be here.”
