Is Tom DeLonge back in blink-182? That question has been the source of plenty of speculation of late, but during a chat on Discord, the band’s Mark Hoppus revealed that there is “no news to share” concerning DeLonge’s status where blink are concerned.
Many are aware that the relationship between DeLonge and his estranged bandmates has improved over the past year, with DeLonge communicating with Hoppus throughout his cancer battle last year, which had led to some speculation about the musician’s possible return.
The speculation only heightened last November when the singer-guitarist stated on The Late Late Show With James Corden, “I feel like I’m always talking about some kind of reunion. I mean, we always talk about playing together again. And I think that that’s definitely something we’re all interested in,” and later commenting, “Finding the time to do it, where it lines up with everybody’s priorities, is really all that’s needed. And getting Mark healthy again, getting him strong again. But yeah no, I’m down. I think those guys are down. I think just finding the time to do it, and when, is really what we’ve got to figure out.”
Then, last month, Matt Skiba was questioned about his status with the band. The Alkaline Trio singer-guitarist filled the DeLonge void after the musician’s most recent exit from the group and appeared on the last two blink-182 albums. Commenting on a fan’s question from an Instagram post about his blink-182 status, Skiba stated, “your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, I am very proud of and thankful for my time w @blink182. We shall see…”
With reunion speculation ramped up, DeLonge recently changed his Instagram bio to state, “I make music (blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves).” Not mentioned was his third band, Box Car Racer, which some fans took to suggest that he was now active in both Blink and Angels & Airwaves.
That led to Hoppus’ Discord chat, in which fans sought some clarification from the musician on DeLonge’s status. His response, “There is no news to share. There is no announcement. Today is thirty years of blink-182!”
He then followed that up by stating, “If and when blink has any announcement about anything, you will hear it from the official blink-182 outlets. Not teased on a radio station like ‘tune in for a major announcement…Tom tagged Mark in a photo from two decades ago.’”
Speaking of throwback photos, DeLonge did recently share one from blink’s early years that can be viewed below.
blink-182 initially went on “indefinite hiatus” in 2005 with tensions growing in the band, but after a 2008 plane crash that involved Travis Barker, the band decided to get back together and announced their reunion at the 2009 Grammy Awards. They recorded and released 2011’s Neighborhoods album, but tensions arose again when Hoppus and Barker were ready to record new music and DeLonge was more focused on his “non-musical activities.”
Initially, Skiba was contacted to fill-in for three scheduled shows, with the Alkaline Trio member eventually taking over DeLonge’s spot in the band over the course of the group’s last two albums.
