Blink 182 vs. Tom DeLonge Beef: Travis Barker & Mark Hoppus Blast 'Disrespectful/Ungrateful' Rocker After Quitting, 'No Balls' Diss Sparks Instagram Response
It's official - longtime guitarist Tom DeLonge is no longer a member of the infamous pop-punk band, Blink 182. Fellow bandmates Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker could really care less... if only DeLonge wasn't such a douchebag about it!
The remaining "First Date" rockers just released this official statement via Rolling Stone on Monday (January 26). Apparently, feelings are pretty bitter now that DeLonge's gone "indefinitely" - with no warning or excuse:
"We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio, we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn't want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavors... No hard feelings, but the show must go on for our fans."
Ouch! The band went through some tough hiatuses, but the boys have been playing together since 1992. Why would DeLonge just vanish like that?
Now DeLonge remains focused on his other band, Angels and Airwaves. He later responded to Hoppus and Barker's heated remarks on Instagram:
tomdelonge: "To all the fans, I never quit the band. I actually was on a phone call about a blink 182 event for New York City at the time all these weird press releases started coming in... Apparently those releases were 'sanctioned' from the band. Are we dysfunctional - yes. But, Christ... #Awkward #BabyBackRibs."
Meanwhile, several fans are still in total shock.
Thankfully, Blink will persevere. According KROQ, longtime friend Matt Skiba (guitarist and vocalist for Alkaline Trio) will take over for now. This does NOT mean Skiba's leaving his own band. The revamped trio will perform at Barker's eighth annual Musink Festival in California this March:
Will Hoppus lose his teenage "partner in crime" for good? For now, it's all about the music:
@markhoppus: "blink-182 life. For life."