The band of crappy punk rockers is back to their semi-original and fan-favorite lineup! After on and off metaphorically edging their massive fanbase the past few years, Tom DeLonge has made his triumphant return to blink-182 yet again! The vocalist/guitarist, who formed the band in 1992 with bandmate Mark Hoppus, left the band for the second time in 2015, after originally leaving in 2005. From 2005 to 2009, DeLonge, Hoppus and the band’s drummer, Travis Barker, focused on all of their side projects during their almost ten-year hiatus, but didn’t speak during that time. What unfortunately helped the trio reunite was Barker’s almost-fatal plane crash that left him and one other (the late DJ AM) as the sole survivors.
Despite coming back together in 2009, the band still struggled behind the scenes. Barker touched on the not-so-public relationship of the band in his memoir, Can I Say (which, I totally recommend reading at some point). Soon came the inevitable departure of DeLonge once again in 2015, but blink-182 were going to continue on without him. With Hoppus being the band’s vocalist/bassist, he enlisted friend and Alkaline Trio‘s vocalist/guitarist Matt Skiba to fill the empty role that they needed.
With two albums and countless tours with Skiba under their belts, the new era of blink-182 seemed to be a successful one, but one that didn’t feel the same. Although Skiba’s era brought some great singles and helped keep the band alive, it didn’t have the same feeling of Mark and Tom together on stage. Nothing truly could ever replace the shared dick jokes on and off the stage and clear brother bond the duo once had.
Once again, unfortunately, another tragedy hit the band and this time Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. After the diagnosis went public, it was reported that the famed lineup had met up to catch up, discuss previous issues and Mark’s diagnosis. Since then, and even before, fans and media outlets alike would constantly speculate whether or not DeLonge would join the band again.
Despite the fact that he was chasing aliens and UFOs the past few years, it seems like the punk rocker-turned-entrepreneur did miss his original calling and secretly planned the comeback with his fellow bandmates once Hoppus was better. Leading up to the October 11th announcement, advertisements and billboards started slowly appearing worldwide pointing the public to blink182.com, which was previously under construction.
Finally, in the early hours of October 11th, blink-182 announced their return with DeLonge and announced that they will be releasing a new song, titled “Edging,” the following Friday, along with a music video for the track, tour dates, new merchandise and even an upcoming album. Of course, with the track title being the name it is, the band came back with a bang by bringing one of the quirks that fans have been missing all along – a short but fun song about being a punk rock kid who likes sex. While some fans (aka myself) would have liked a more meaningful song à la the band’s last album together, Neighborhoods, the pop punk veterans stayed true to their upbringing and knew this would be the way to capture the original fans again.
With all of this suddenly happening, I’m sure you can’t help but wonder what went on with Skiba leaving the band, right? Well, both DeLonge and Skiba made public statements and expressed gratitude for one another, and the other two members of blink-182. Everything this time around seems sincere and meaningful.
Despite tickets being incredibly hard to get, they’re currently on sale now. We can’t wait to see what’s next for this band, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that there won’t be another split anytime soon.
