Blink-182’s Classic Lineup Didn’t Think They’d Ever Play Together Again
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Blink-182’s classic lineup discussed their difficult split and unexpected reunion while also sharing a new song that seems to nod to all that, “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got.”
In a new hour-long interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, both Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge revealed that they didn’t think they’d ever reunite as Blink-182 after DeLonge left the band in 2015 (Matt Skiba replaced him). Hoppus put it bluntly, saying, “I didn’t know that Blink would ever get back together or that I would ever share a stage with Tom. I told management, I told Travis, I told everybody, ‘I’m not setting foot on stage again with that dude. Not a chance.’”
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Hoppus added that he still admired DeLonge as a songwriter but admitted: “there was a lot of bad blood and there was a lot of stuff in the press, and feelings, and all this stuff.”
DeLonge was similarly frank, saying, “Like Mark said, I wasn’t sure if we were going to play together again or not. I remember telling my wife, ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to play music again. I’ll keep making records and put them out… [but] I don’t think I’m ever going to tour again.’”
That all changed in 2021 when Hoppus was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Hoppus had decided to keep the news relatively quiet, and, as it happened, DeLonge actually reached out to Hoppus before even knowing about the diagnosis. In classic Blink fashion — where horny dude humor and deep feelings collide — Hoppus recalled receiving a text from DeLonge from the set of an Angels and Airwaves music video. It was accompanied by a photo of DeLonge with “six women in their underwear and high-heels.”
Hoppus’ response: “Haha that’s great, I’m so stoked for you — by the way, I have lymphoma.”
Immediately after that, DeLonge was calling Hoppus every day to check in and offer love and encouragement.
“It was similar when Travis had his accident back in the day,” DeLonge said. “Nothing matters, really. Everything that’s just dumb, peripheral, it’s all petty when you have real human things happen. So, it feels like it’s an instant thing. I feel like there’s a real sense of brotherhood with us. And like any brothers, you have your little spats over the years, and you grow apart. You come back together. But you’ve always got a foundation that you’re connected.”
As for Barker, he said he never lost faith in a possible reunion, saying, “It was a no-brainer for me that, of course, we would do it again.” He continued: “It was always my first priority and my first love. Music. I always knew that the brotherhood wouldn’t ever deteriorate or wouldn’t be there. It was just a matter of finding the right time for it all to happen… One More Time is kind of written about that. It’s written about, why does it take these catastrophes like me being in a plane crash or Mark being sick for our band to get back together?”
Blink-182’s new song, “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got,” embodies this aspect of the Blink-182 story. On the bridge, Hoppus sings, “I begged for your forgiveness/I made a deal with God/I took you all for granted/You can write my epilogue.”
“You Don’t Know What You’ve Got” is the sixth song Blink have shared from One More Time, following “Dance With Me,” “Fell in Love,” “One More Time,” “More Than You Know,” and “Edging.” The album is set to arrive this Friday, Oct. 20.
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