Blink 182 Biography
The new-school punk trio blink-182
was formed in the suburbs of San Diego, California around guitarist/vocalist Tom
DeLonge, bassist/vocalist Mark
Hoppus, and drummer Scott
Raynor. Originally known as simply Blink, the band debuted in 1993 with a
self-released EP, Fly Swatter. After releasing the album Buddha
in 1994, the trio signed to Grilled Cheese/Cargo and released Cheshire
Cat the following year. The threat of a lawsuit from a similarly named Irish
band forced them to change their name to blink-182, but the group earned a
higher profile touring the world with Pennywise
and NOFX on the 1996-1997 Warped Tour, plus appearing on innumerable
skate/surf/snowboarding videos.
The third blink-182 LP, Dude
Ranch, was jointly released in 1997 by Cargo and MCA. Dude
Ranch expanded the group's audience and went platinum by the end of 1998,
due in part to the popularity of their infectious teen anthem, "Dammit
(Growing Up)." The group also signed officially with MCA, which released
the band's fourth album, Enema of the State, in the summer of 1999. The album,
produced by Jerry
Finn (Green
Day, Rancid),
also welcomed a new member into the trio's ranks; Travis
Barker, formerly with the Aquabats, settled in on drums after Raynor
left midway through a 1998 U.S. tour. Enema
was greeted with almost immediate success, and helped the band achieve the
mainstream status of toilet-humored pop-punk kings that Dude
Ranch had only hinted at. Driven by the commercially successful singles
"What's My Age Again?," "All The Small Things," and
"Adam's Song," music videos for the three songs (whose clips included
themes of streaking and boy
band spoofs) were MTV smashes as well.
After selling over four million copies of Enema of the
State, the trio played on with the limited-edition release The Mark, Tom, and
Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back) in fall 2000. The album featured the band's
radio hits in a live setting, intertwined with their quirky sense of humor as
well as the new song "Man Overboard." Take Off Your Pants and Jacket,
issued in spring 2001, saw the band return to their SoCal punk rock roots.
Maturity, of a sort, came with 2003's self-titled album, released on Geffen. Not
only did the album sport a song ("All of This") that featured Robert
Smith of the Cure, but "I Miss You" also topped the modern rock
charts in 2005.
In February 2005, however, popular as ever and seemingly
indestructible, blink-182 unexpectedly announced they would be going on an
"indefinite hiatus," supposedly to spend more time with their growing
families. Asking fans for help in selecting tracks, the group issued Greatest
Hits that November. Bandmembers also continued on with other projects: Barker
-- who had previously released an album with DeLonge as Boxcar
Racer -- continued playing with the Transplants and running his clothing
company, Famous Stars and Straps. His family was also spotlighted in the MTV
reality show Meet the Barkers. Hoppus
carried on with his Atticus fashion venture, began producing -- starting with Motion
City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory -- and hosting his own podcasts. He
further began work with Barker
in a new band, Plus
44. DeLonge also continued work with his lifestyle clothing company, Macbeth,
and formally announced his new project, Angels and Airwaves, that fall. John
Bush & Corey Apar, All Music Guide