Bio

It’s been nearly two decades since blink-182 first burst upon the scene, emerging from a garage in Poway, CA (the San Diego suburbs) to take over the world with their signature sound. A strange thing also happened over those years: while singing along to hit after hit and laughing out loud to a myriad of new terms for various bodily functions, a generation of fans grew up right along with the band. Every step of the way, they followed Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker’s epic journey — both musical and personal.

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With thirty-million-plus records sold worldwide, the trip’s been a global one. The trio is recognizable nearly everywhere. They’ve reaped awards, played the top television programs and graced the covers of top publications in the U.S. and numerous countries. Crowds have
lined up at arenas around the globe to see them play live. Each member has since become a brand-building star, exploring the worlds of fashion/clothing, TV, various musical projects and —most importantly— fatherhood. Yes, the very same guys who once stunned parents with wildly raunchy jokes are now dads themselves.
Blink-182’s sound was immediately evident by the time they released their breakout 1997 album Dude Ranch, which went platinum by the next year on the strength of their first hit, “Dammit (Growing Up).” Enema of the State followed in the summer of 1999 and went multiplatinum, reaching #9 on the Billboard 200 and eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide. The tour that spawned the Mark, Tom & Travis Show sold over 350,000 concert tickets. Their next studio album, the multi-platinum Take Off Your Pants and Jacket was released in 2001 and reached #1 in the United States, Canada and Germany. 2001 also found the band headlining the inaugural Honda Civic Tour.
By the time the band dropped the humor from their album titles for their eponymously-titled blink-182 in 2003, a marked stylistic shift had taken place for the group. With a broad spectrum of varied influences brought into the recording studio, blink-182 took shape as each member infused more experimental elements into their familiar sound—Travis’ devotion to hip-hop, Tom’s ethereal arena rock leanings and Mark’s indie flavor. Left-field elements yielded surprising results, such as the inclusion of Robert Smith of The Cure appearing on “All Of This.” Commercial success validated the risks as the album went double-platinum in the U.S., and has since sold more than four million records worldwide.
After the members took a five-year hiatus from blink-182, the threesome appeared at the Grammy Awards ceremony in 2009 to announce that they had returned to revive a band that just couldn’t stay quiet for too long. A hit international tour followed.
Now, self-producing their first album and recording together for the first time since 2003, the band is actively pushing their musical boundaries, all while keeping firm hold of the classic blink-182 sound that took them to the top in the first place. And, with the dual added benefits of age and life experiences since the recording of blink-182 to draw upon, the results of these sessions will surely set the tone for the next blink decade.
This is growing up.