Opinion: The Evolution of Blink-182 – The Hornet

Punk music came into to the music scene in the 1970s. By the year 1992 skater/ punk band, Blink- 182 was born into the punk era.

Some lyrics from their song, The Rock Show, somewhat explain the start of Blink-182.

Hanging out behind the club on the weekend/ acting stupid/ getting drunk with my friends/ I couldnt wait for the summer and the Warped Tour

The band was formed in Poway, California in 1992 by three young boys; Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and then drummer Scott Raynor.

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The three high school boys started making music in their younger years by playing in their parents garage and around local spots around town.

What drove people to the band and to their music was their high energy on stage.

Cheshire Cat was their first album to be released in February of 1995 by Cargo Music.

In 1996 the band signed with record label MCA records. Then by June of 1997 the guys released their second album, Dude Ranch with featured song, Dammit.

Their second album went into the mainstream of music, especially when they got the opportunity to tour The Vans Warped Tour.

What happens onstage doesnt always follow behind the scenes. It wasnt perfect. As the guys were on tour, and touring excessively they started to bump heads.

For their drummer, Scott Raynor it seemed like he wasnt okay mentally. He was dealing with a loss and started to mask his pain by using alcohol, it got to the point where it was becoming too much.

In 1998 halfway through the year Hoppus and Delonge provided Raynor two options, which were to either quit drinking or to go to rehab. Raynor despite his options, decided to do both.

Blink-182 needed to find a new drummer while Raynor was in rehab that led to the hiring of the fill-in drummer, Travis Barker.

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While Raynor was in rehab, he got fired through a phone conversation even though he had agreed to his ultimatums. Although the circumstances of how he got fired, he understood where Hoppus and Delonge were coming from.

The reason for Raynors firing was because he was excessively using drugs and alcohol. It got to a place where the band got into an argument and thats when they decided to end it with the past drummer.

For their third album, Enema of the State, thats when the band as a unit became bigger than ever before. They sold 15 million copies, released three hit singles and on top of all of that their album became quadruple platinum.

As the months and years went on, in 2001 the band released their fourth record, Take off your Pants and Jacket, which scored them their first number one album.

By November of 2003 the guys then moved over to Geffen records, where they released self titled album, Blink-182.

Their albums and songs were on the charts, they were receiving awards, touring everything seemed to be going perfect for the band.

At the time the band was on a never ending tour. It was one state or country after another. For the band it was taking a toll on everyone, which lead to frequent arguing, and disagreements with things within the band.

Barker began filming a MTV reality TV series called, Meet the Barkers with then wife, Shanna Moakler. While filming was going Delonge felt like his privacy within the band was being invaded by the filming around him.

As time went on, Delonge decided to part ways with the band and spend more quality time with his loved ones.

February of 2005 their record label at the time, Geffen Records released a public statement announcing the bands hiatus.

During Delonges time away from the band, he then formed his own rock band called, Angels and Airwaves in September of 2005.

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The world was rocked of the news. Some fans were expecting it and some were totally blindsided.

After the band had broken up, each of the guys continued to pursue music among other things.

During the bands time apart, in 2008 Barker and Adam Goldstein a.k.a. DJ AM got into a plane crash. Barker was severely injured. Sixty-five percent of his body was severely burned.

His hands were on fire and then within seconds, his entire body was swallowed by the planes fuel which leads him to be captivated with even more flames since he left his seat to go into the jet. It took him almost a year to fully recover.

When speaking to ABC News, Chris Connelly for Good Morning America, Barker explained in great detail what he experienced and what kind of pain he was going through. While Barker was recovering he then started suffering from post-traumatic disorder (PTD) from the tragic accident.

The accident was so serious it opened up former bandmates Hoppus and Delonges outlook on what was happening and they both got back in touch with their friend. After being apart for four years, the band decided to come together at the 2009 Grammy awards.

Appearing on stage at the 2009 Grammy awards the guys were they to announce the next nominee, but they used that time to announce something else.

We used to play music together, and we decided to play music together once again, stated Barker.

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In 2011 the band was touring and releasing their sixth record, Neighborhoods. At this time they were signed with DGC Records and Interscope Records.

At this point this was the bands newest material since their hiatus. Up until the release of their newest album, the band was struggling with the inner scope of the record labels.

At the same time, while Delonge was in San Diego Hoppus and Barker would be in LA producing more of the album out there.

The making of this record was becoming frustrating for the guys. They were producing the album by themselves since their former music producer Jerry Finn passed away.

As the frustration was becoming a bigger issue, Delonge and Hoppus brought the issues up in meetings with their teams which lead to even more miscommunication for everyone involved.

The band decided to then part ways in October 2012 with Interscope Records and become an Independent band. Which made them feel like they were finally free, free meaning they could do whatever they want within the band.

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After the band announced that they were now going to be an independent band they released an EP in December of that year called, Dogs Eating Dogs.

After the release of their new EP, they headed back into the studio to start fresh in making their seventh studio album that was to be released later in the year.

Unfortunately for Delonge he kept putting things off and delaying the album, which again, frustrated Hoppus and Barker.

Hoppus and Barker then released a public statement on the reasoning for Delonges second departure from the band, explaining that Delonge wanted to focus more on non-musical projects instead of participating in any Blink-182 projects.

Hoppus and Barker then found a replacement for Delonge. In 2015 the band added Matt Skiba as the Co-lead vocalist and guitarist for the band.His first appearance with the band was on their seventh record, California.

California their 2016 album, debuted at number one in the U.S. and in several other countries. The band received their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.

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During their success of their seventh album, the band headed back on tour from July to October of 2016 and a European tour in the summer of 2017.

After the bands tour had ended the guys took some time off and then headed back into the studio to start writing on their eighth studio record.

In 2018 the band signed on to do a Las Vegas residency at the Palms Casino Resort the shows were called the Kings of the Weekend. The sixteen date residency was from May to November of that year.

Later in 2019 the band made news that they would be performing their entire third album at the Back to the Beach Music Festival in honor of its 20th anniversary.

A new era for Blink-182 was rising with excitement as the band announced that they were now signed to Columbia Records.

Blink-182 announced the releasing of their new album NINE on September 20, 2019. The records singles were, Blame It On My Youth, Generational Divide and Happy Days.

Overall Blink-182 has had its ups and downs just like many other bands and artists out there. The band has grown into a bigger better band than ever before.

By releasing new music and being on tour, just their stage presence they genuinely look happy together as brothers and as a band again.

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Opinion: The Evolution of Blink-182 - The Hornet