R.I.P. Blink-182
Last Monday, Twitter blew up with sad fans saying that Tom Delonge had once again left the trio of Blink 182. The band split 10 years ago under the same circumstances but got back together soon afterwards, going on tours and recording new tracks. Does this mean fans can expect the band to get back together again in the future? Probably not. A lot of turmoil surrounding the band has gone public, and the lovable band behind “All The Small Things,” “What’s My Age Again," and “Miss You," has enough drama for its own reality TV show.
After Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker released to the public that Tom Delonge had left the band, Delonge took to Instagram, posting a ridiculously long caption to this photo:
His caption explained that he was still a part of Blink-182, and had no idea where the press releases were coming from (how the photo relates, I have no idea). Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker then responded through an extensive article with Rolling Stone. In the article they state that the day the three band mates were suppose to go into the studio and begin recording a new EP, they received an email from Tom’s manager saying Tom was out of the band indefinitely. Apparently, this is the same reason the band broke up the first time. “It’s hard to cover up for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful,” says Barker about Delonge.
“It feels humiliating to be in a band where you have to be apologizing for one person all the time,” Hoppus then added. To conclude this saga, Tom Delonge posted a lengthy Facebook post that began with, “Letter to the fans: Where to begin? The truth is always a good place. Let’s go there.” The rest of the post says how he is grateful to be in Blink-182, for he has given his life to the band and will always love his band mates, whom he calls his brothers and life-long friends. However, he says that due to the Rolling Stone article, their friendship had been “poisoned.” He agrees that he is at fault for the bands crumbling, but he also believes it took all three members to cause the destruction. He ends the article with, “Never planned on quitting, just find it hard as well to commit.”
Whoa. So what can Blink fans expect now? We grew up with the band since its first album in 1995. We remember watching thier hilarious music videos where all of the members mocked every 90s boy band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ht5RZpzPqw
Or ran the streets butt-naked:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7l5ZeVVoCA
And then of course, there’s the “First Date,” video, which really is indescribable, and just simply hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVy9Lgpg1m8
We watched them mature and become more emotional with songs like “Down” and “Miss You.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1tAYmMjLdY
And then, of course, related all too much to “Anthem Part 2,” screaming along to the lyrics “If we’re fucked up, you’re to blame” every time we got grounded. And did anyone else not realize the innuendo in their album title, Take off Your Pants and Jacket until high school? Blink-182 was such a special band to so many people. Tom Delonge created that sort of pop-punk alternative voice that so many other pop-punk bands adopted later on. Blink was amazing, but sorry I got distracted from the question, too busy reminiscing.
What can Blink fans expect now? Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker are still playing at the Musink Festival in March, however Mike Skiba will be taking Tom Delonge’s spot. Tom Delonge has many side-bands, including the more popular, Angels and Airwaves, which just premiered a new video to a new song called, “Tunnels,” which you can see here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyN3UOHX1MQ&sns=tw
Every member also now has his own family. You can watch a hilarious documentary called The Other F Word, where Mark Hoppus talks about fatherhood. But as for Blink 182 as we know it, it’s nothing but a memory...