Blink returns

"Hi. We're blink-182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We're back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy. Summer 2009. Thanks and get ready..."

Blink 182

Official website

http://blink182.com/

Discography Blink 182

ALBUMS

Greatest Hits 2005

Blink 182 (Extra Tracks) 2004

Blink-182 2003

Take Off Your Pants And Jacket 2001

The Mark, Tom And Travis Show 2000

Enema Of The State 1999

Cheshire Cat 1998

Buddha 1998

Dude Ranch 1997

Flyswatter 1992

SINGLES

Down 2005

Not Now 2005

I Miss You 2004

Always 2004

Stay Together For The Kids 2003

Feeling This 2003

Man Overboard 2001

The Rock Show 2001

Firts Date 2001

I Won't Be Home For Christmas / Story Of Lonely Guy / Age 2001

All The Small Things 2000

Adam's Song 2000

All The Small Things, Pt. 2 2000

What's My Age Again?, Pt. 1 1999

What's My Age Again?, Pt.2 1999

Josie 1998

Dick Lips 1998

Apple Shampoo 1997

DVDs / VIDEOS

Greatest Hits 2005

The Urethra Chronicles II, Harder Faster Faster Harder 2002

The Urethra Chronicles 2000

Tom Delonge

Thomas Matthew DeLonge, Jr. (born December 13, 1975) is an American musician and the guitarist/vocalist for the punk rock band Blink-182 as well as the alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves. He also collaborated with drummer Travis Barker in the side project Box Car Racer in 2002, releasing one self-titled album. After leaving Blink-182 in 2005, he formed the group Angels & Airwaves with former members of Hazen Street, The Distillers, and Rocket from the Crypt. On February 8, 2009, Blink-182 confirmed that they had reunited after a four year hiatus.

Early years
DeLonge was raised by his mother and father in Poway, California. He has an older brother, Shon, and a younger sister, Kari. Tom was expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drinking at a school basketball game. He then went to Rancho Bernardo High School, he loved his new high school and became fond of punk rock. Some of his influences have been Descendents, Screeching Weasel and The Cure. When he returned to Poway High School during his senior year, the students voted him Homecoming King, despite the fact he wasn't on the ballot. Becoming a musician was not his first calling. "I was originally going to be a firefighter. I was in the San Diego Cadet Program,” says DeLonge

Musical career
Blink-182 (1992-2005, 2009-present) and Box Car Racer (2002-2003)
Main articles: blink-182 and Box Car Racer
When DeLonge attended Rancho Bernardo High School, he was introduced to Mark Hoppus through Hoppus' sister, Anne. In 1992, they met Scott Raynor and decided to form a band together that would become Blink-182. Raynor was replaced with Travis Barker in 1998 amidst many rumours of Raynor's possible alcoholism and drug addictions, just as Blink-182 released Enema of the State, which was met with a huge amount of mainstream success, spawning three hit singles. Follow-up Take Off Your Pants and Jacket went straight to No.1 on the Billboard 200. After DeLonge and Barker participated in the band Box Car Racer, a side project created by DeLonge with his high-school friend David Kennedy in 2002. In 2003 blink-182 released their eponymous album. DeLonge then decided to leave the band, allegedly due to mounting tensions and communication difficulties, creating a rift between him and the other members of the band. Blink-182 announced an 'indefinite hiatus' in February 2005.

On February 5, 2009, MTV.com announced that Blink-182 would reunite to present an award at the 51st Grammy Awards, which would be the first time the trio appeared together on stage since 2004.
On February 8, 2009, Blink-182 announced the band is reuniting while presenting/announcing best rock album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Blink-182 is currently planning a world tour and a new album in the summer of 2009.
On February 9, 2009, Tom opened up to "Extra" about the Blink-182 reunion and had this to say: "When you're in a band, you have this unspoken bond. You're kind of family with your boys. We took a break for a little bit. I think when Travis had the event happen to him it was something that pulled us back together... we always knew it was inevitable, we just needed something to break the ice."

Angels & Airwaves (2005-present)
Main article: Angels & Airwaves
DeLonge is the lead vocalist and one of two guitarists in the band Angels & Airwaves. He formed the band with high-school friend and former Hazen Street and Box Car Racer bandmate David Kennedy on guitar, as well as former Rocket from the Crypt drummer Atom Willard and former The Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn. They released their debut album We Don't Need to Whisper on 20 May 2006. During the recording of their second album, I-Empire (November 6, 2007), Ryan Sinn left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by former 30 Seconds to Mars bassist Matt Wachter. Tom DeLonge still covers Blink-182 songs, such as "Down", "I Miss You", "Not Now", and "Reckless Abandon" with Angels & Airwaves, along with Box Car Racer songs "There Is" and "My First Punk Song". In 2008, Angels and Airwaves were a part of the Vans Warped Tour.

Signature guitars
Fender Guitars worked with DeLonge to create the Tom DeLonge Stratocaster (signature guitar) which consisted of a solid alder body fitted with a single Seymour Duncan Invader Bridge pickup. It was controlled by a lone volume knob adding to its simple design. At first, the Stratocasters were fitted with an American 2-Point tremolo system and was later replaced by a hardtail bridge. Its neck was made of solid maple with a rosewood fretboard, although there have been some custom Stratocasters that were fitted with maple fretboards. The necks included a large 1970s "CBS" headstock.
Since 2003, with the recording of Blink-182, DeLonge also has a signature Gibson ES-333 guitar out available in brown with cream stripes. The Tom DeLonge Signature starts with Gibson's classic semi-hollow body design and then extends it into punk rock with an overwound 'Dirty Fingers' humbucking pickup. Its thick, distorted tone is the signature sound of DeLonge's band Blink-182.
On Angels & Airwaves albums, We Don't Need to Whisper and I-Empire Tom uses his signature Gibson ES-333 which is custom made from the Gibson custom shop. Epiphone has since come out with a lower cost version of the Tom DeLonge signature guitar, manufactured overseas, but fitted with the same Dirty Fingers humbucker.

Personal life
DeLonge lives with his wife Jennifer, daughter Ava Elizabeth (born July 15, 2002), son Jonas Rocket (born on August 16, 2006), German Shepard Grey, and Labrador Retriever Chloe in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Tom made a cameo appearance as the burger jungle drive thru clerk in the movie Idle Hands and in the music documentaries: Riding in Vans with Boys, The Urethra Chronicles and The Urethra Chronicles II: Harder Faster Faster Harder. Tom also made a cameo appearance in the blockbuster film American Pie with his fellow band-mates in Blink-182, acting in a scene while one of their songs, "Mutt", played in the background. Tom made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons with fellow band-mates, while "All The Small Things" played in the background.

Clothing Companies
In 2001, DeLonge started Atticus Clothing with fellow blink-182 band member Mark Hoppus, and also Macbeth Footwear. However, he sold his part of the Atticus Clothing company after the 2005 blink-182 hiatus.

Mark Hoppus

Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician and record producer. Hoppus is one of the founding members of the pop punk band Blink-182 and the pop punk/alternative band +44. He plays bass guitar and provides vocals. As of late, Hoppus has produced albums for groups like Idiot Pilot, New Found Glory, The Matches, and Motion City Soundtrack.


Mark Hoppus was born in Ridgecrest, California on March 15, 1972. At the age of 15, Hoppus got his first bass guitar as a gift from his dad and earned money for a set of amplifiers by helping him paint his garage. Hoppus never took bass lessons, instead he taught himself by playing to bands such as the Descendents, The Cure, and Bad Religion. Hoppus played by himself and sang in the band Pier 69, primarily covering songs by The Cure. He also played in a band called The Attic Children in 1988, during this time he lived in Washington D.C. He later moved to San Diego, where his sister Anne (now Anne McMurray) introduced him to Tom DeLonge in August 1992. DeLonge was a friend of Anne's at the time, and constantly complained about wanting to join a band. When Hoppus first went over to DeLonge's house, he was told DeLonge would be at the local skate park. Hoppus went over and found DeLonge skateboarding with his friends. Hoppus wanted to impress DeLonge, so he climbed on a lamp post, jumped off and cracked both ankles and heels and was on crutches for three weeks. He then started playing with DeLonge in his garage and they recruited original drummer, Scott Raynor. They went on to form Blink. In 1998, Travis Barker joined the band during a tour in California. Blink-182 went on to record many more albums which made the band very successful. The band recorded two number one hits, "All the Small Things" and "I Miss You". As of 2005 the band went on an indefinite hiatus. Hoppus wanted to continue to write music so he started +44, a new band with fellow Blink-182 band mate Travis Barker. In 2006 they released their first album entitled When Your Heart Stops Beating. The band have recently signed a deal with Interscope Records and are currently in production of their second studio album.
When asked about a possible Blink-182 reunion, Hoppus usually replies with "I don't know. Ten years ago I would never guess that I would be where I am now, I can't guess where I'll be ten years from now. "On February 8th 2009, Blink-182 presented at The Grammys; before presenting the award Hoppus said "Blink-182 Is Back"

Personal life
Hoppus married Skye Everly in 2000 after meeting on the set of Blink-182's "All the Small Things" video shoot. Two years later, Skye gave birth to their son, Jack Hoppus on August 5, 2002. The three currently reside in Los Angeles, California. On August 11, 2008 in an article released, Mark is suing a father and son who lied to him about automated checkout machines at McDonald's restaurants. Mark invested more than half a million dollars in it back in October 2003.

Musical gear
Hoppus has been seen sporting his signature Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass in a variety of different colors since the days of Blink-182. Though considered to be a Precision Bass, Hoppus's signature consists of a Jazz Bass body with a Precision Bass neck and pickup. Recently, Hoppus's signature underwent a slight modification. The bodies are now made of Ash instead of Alder, making the bass lighter. The pickup locations were switched from their usual positions. The pickup that was placed under the E and A strings was also placed under the D and G strings and moved above the original position, placed higher than the pickup under the E and A strings, giving the D and G bass strings a warmer, thicker bass sound. The pickups Hoppus uses are Seymour Duncan Quarter-Pound pickups, the same as is on the Fender Precision Bass. The current colors of his +44 touring basses include Olympic White, Sunburst and See-Through Blond all coupled with a tortoise shell pickguard. Besides his signature basses, Hoppus was seen using one other bass guitar live on stage: the six-stringed Fender Bass VI, most notably for the song "I Miss You". Prior to the use of Fender Basses, Hoppus heavily used Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray basses in various colors during the early days of Blink-182 up until the early Enema of the State period.
For live sound, Hoppus plugs his basses into three Ampeg SVT Classic bass heads running into two Ampeg 8x10 SVT bass cabs. Prior to the use of the all-tube SVT Classic heads, Hoppus used two Ampeg SVT-4 Pro heads which only feature a tube preamp.

Companies
Hoppus and Tom DeLonge co-owned two companies, Atticus and Macbeth Athletics, Hoppus has since sold his share in both companies; as well as loserkids.com.

HiMyNameIsMark
"HiMyNameIsMark" (also known as 'The Morning Zoo') is a podcast that was set up in the wake of the hiatus by Hoppus, and can be found at HiMyNameIsMark.com. Every few weeks he released a show of songs by underground bands, interviews with band members and/or friends, and reminisces about happenings in his life. He is often joined on the show by his friends Chris Holmes (+44's engineer) and James Ingram (+44's assistant engineer). In 2005 Hoppus won the "Best Podcast" award, beating out many of the hottest podcasts.

Non-Musical
Mark Hoppus was a guest actor on an episode of the UPN show, Haunted, in 2002. He also wrote columns for Risen Magazine's March/April and May/June 2005 issues entitled "Beyond Us". Mark Hoppus was also confirmed to be a part of the 2008 film, "One Nine Nine Four", a movie about punk rock in the 90's.

Travis Barker

Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American drummer and the current drummer for punk rock trio Blink-182. He has also been a drummer for several side projects including +44, Box Car Racer, Transplants and Expensive Taste. In 1996, Barker joined his first touring band, playing drums for The Aquabats as The Baron Von Tito. He recorded one album with them, The Fury of the Aquabats!, in 1997. His career took off when he joined up with punk rock band, Blink-182 in 1998. Barker became known for his mohawk and his tendency to perform without a shirt, revealing a multitude of tattoos. Barker has since established himself as a versatile drummer, producing and guest appearing in music projects of numerous music genres including hip-hop, punk rock, alternative rock, ska, pop and even country. He has gained significant acceptance within the hip-hop community in particular and often collaborates with artists to compose rock-tinged remixes to their songs. He founded clothing company Famous Stars and Straps in 1999 and LaSalle Records in 2004. Companies such as DC Shoes and Zildjian cymbals have co-designed products in his name.

Personal life and early years

Barker's marriage to former Miss USA Shanna Moakler was featured in MTV's Meet the Barkers (2005–2006). His marriage and personal life have been considerable media fodder following his divorce in 2006, and a brief relationship with Hilton Hotel heiress Paris Hilton didn't help those matters. On February 5, 2009 MTV.com posted an article confirming that Barker and his ex-wife Shanna Moakler have decided to get back together.

Early life Barker was born in a poverty-stricken neighborhood in Fontana, California, the son of Randy and Gloria Barker. He received his first drum set at the age of four and began taking drum and trumpet lessons at the age of five. The day before Barker started his freshman year at Fontana High School, his mother died. Gloria told him before she died to continue playing the drums because that was what he was good at. After her death, Barker became more serious about drumming. He joined a marching band in his sophomore year and made the snare line. During high school he performed at regional competitions and festivals. During his senior year of high school, Barker passed up drum corps tryouts to tour with his first band, Feeble. After graduating from high school in 1993, Barker gained more experience as a rock drummer in a few early bands including Feeble and The Aquabats. In the latter, he was known as "Baron Von Tito". From 1993 through 1998, Barker also worked a series of odd jobs and taught drum lessons to support himself. Though he continued to teach privately through 2002, Barker (while appearing on MTV's TRL, in 2003) mentioned that he no longer gives private drum lessons. Musical career Blink-182 (1992-2005, 2009-present) Blink-182. Barker with Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus in 2003 In 1996, Barker began touring with The Aquabats, under the stage name "The Baron Von Tito". Blink-182 was also on the bill, and when then-drummer Scott Raynor was removed from the band, Barker was asked to fill in. This required him to learn the entire set (over 20 songs) in less than two hours and perform them at that night's show, in addition to playing a set with The Aquabats. His efforts earned him an offer to join Blink-182, which Barker accepted. With Barker, Blink-182 released their best selling album to date, Enema of the State (1999), followed by Take off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), and Blink-182 (2003). After seven years of drumming with Blink-182, in February 2005, the band split up. In an interview with TMZ, regarding a reunion, Barker states "We're all friends" and "Everyone's getting along pretty good." On February 5, 2009, MTV.com announced that Blink-182 will reunite at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, which will be the first time the trio has met on stage since 2005. On the Grammy Awards telecast three days later, Barker announced that Blink-182 was back and would "be playing music together again," but did not go into any other details on the upcoming reunion. On February 8, 2009 at the Grammy Awards Mark Hoppus stated that he, Travis and Tom Delonge, are getting back together as Blink-182. On Blink's official website it is stated that they are currently working in a new studio album, and will be touring on Summer 2009. Side projects (2002–2009) Barker says he has always been interested in many genres of music outside of punk rock, especially hip-hop. In a 2002 interview with MTV he said, "I probably listen to more hip-hop and drum'n'bass than I do punk rock music.". Not being able to explore these interests within Blink-182, Barker participated in two hip hop related side projects during that the time: Transplants and Expensive Taste. Box Car Racer is a side project begun with Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 in 2002. This project resulted in one self-titled album which was released that year. DeLonge said he asked Barker to play drums so that he wouldn't have to find and pay a session drummer to come in. Transplants is a hip-hop induced punk band for which Barker partnered with Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Rob Aston (former roadie for Rancid). Transplants released two studio records as well as a remixed version of their second album which was chopped and screwed by rapper and hip-hop artist, Paul Wall. The first album released by Transplants was their self-titled album in 2002. The second Transplants record, Haunted Cities, was released by LaSalle Records in June 2005. After the Vans Warped Tour of 2005, the members decided to disband. This was confirmed by vocalist Rob Aston in January 2006 during an interview Travis Barker on stage in San Diego, June 2004. Barker has produced or worked on albums with the Black Eyed Peas, P!nk and Pharrell. He appears on Bun B's album, Trill (2005) with Skinhead Rob for the bonus track, "Late Night Creepin'". In 2006 he was a producer on T.I.'s fourth album, King. Also in 2006 he played drums for several songs on Avril Lavigne's third album. He also dueted with Rihanna on a remix of her hit "Umbrella", he also appeared in her video. In late 2005 Barker started a new band, +44 with fellow Blink-182 member Mark Hoppus and in 2006, he and Rob Aston joined Paul Wall in forming a new hip-hop group called Expensive Taste. Barker made a very well received remix of Soulja Boy's "Crank That". In a similar fashion to the Soulja Boy remix, he has also remixed Flo Rida's single "Low" that was later included within the deluxe version of Flo Rida's debut album. Barker is a playable character in Guitar Hero: World Tour and his remix of "Low" is available as downloadable content. Barker is also featured on The Game's latest album, L.A.X., drumming on the song "Dope Boys." He was the drummer for all of the performers in the MTV Video Music Awards of 2008 including Kid Rock and LL Cool J. Plane crash Main article: 2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash On September 19, 2008, Barker was injured when the Learjet 60 in which he was a passenger crashed outside of Columbia, South Carolina. The jet was headed for Van Nuys, California. According to the Federal Aviation Administration; the plane was departing the airport when air traffic controllers saw sparks emanating from the plane. It went off the runway, smashed through a fence, crossed a nearby road, slammed into an embankment and caught fire. Barker had performed the night before at an event with former Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell, Gavin DeGraw and DJ AM. Barker was transported to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, where he was listed in critical condition. DJ AM was also injured in the crash and was also listed in critical condition. Four others were killed in the crash, three males and one female. With autopsies being performed to identify the bodies, two of the deceased were crew members, and two were passengers, including Chris Baker, Barker's personal assistant who often appeared in Meet The Barkers, and Charles Still, Barker's security guard. On September 21, Dr. Fred Mullins, medical director of the Burn Center reported that Barker sustained second and third degree burns on his lower body and torso and is expected to fully recover within a year. Barker stopped his vegan diet and began eating meat in order to increase his protein intake and possibly speed healing of his burns. On stage in Columbia, SC before the crash. Barker returned to the recording studio in November 2008, just two months after the plane crash. On his first television interview since the crash, he said to MTV, "I'm already playing my drums again, and I'm already back in the studio". Elaborating by stating that the return to the studio "was like riding a bike. It was really exciting to know I still have my chops. It still felt good... I still can make it around the kit. Everything felt right, so I'm thankful to be able to play." Barker sued the plane's owners, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., and an airplane maintenance company on November 21, 2008. He sought more than $25,000 in damages "for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings, and medical and legal expenses", claiming that the companies had "improperly operated and maintained the Learjet". The lawsuit claims the Learjet's pilots were "improperly trained and should have tried to take off rather than continue down the runway. The mother of Barker's bodyguard, Charles Monroe Still Jr., who was killed in the crash, joined the lawsuit. She sued the companies for "damages including grief and sorrow, funeral expenses and loss of earnings." On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Barker will make his first appearance with DJ-AM (Adam Goldstein) since the two survived the plane crash. The duo performed at New Year's Nation's Los Angeles New Year's Eve Party at The Wiltern. Their performance was to be streamed live on the Internet via New Year's Nation's official site, and broadcast at other New Year's Nation parties across the U.S. Of the gig, Barker told press, "I'm ready to get back onstage with AM and continue to rock the house. I'm very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A."