It all kicked off in the blink-182 camp last night. Readers may have witnessed the somewhat confused statements circulating the internet, reportedly originating from a blink-182 publicist announcing that vocalist and guitarist Tom Delonge no longer wished to continue with the band. The instant, and largely expected, internet backlash led Delonge to Instagram where he posted a statement stating that despite reports, he had not quit the band.
Prior to the confusion, blink-182 had been announced for the Musink Festival in California – curated by none other than Travis Barker. The announcement however included Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio.
As speculation and confusion continued yesterday, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus sat down with Rolling Stone Magazine to explain proceedings from their point of view. “There’s a flurry of e-mails going back and forth for clarification about the recording and the show and his manager sends [an e-mail] back saying, “Tom. Is. Out.” Direct quote,” Hoppus responds when asked about the original statement. “For the foreseeable future, Tom is done.”
“The press release that came out today is 100 percent from Travis and me and we stand by it 100 percent because it’s all true. There’s no ambiguity.”
Speaking of their confirmed appearance at Musink Festival, Hoppus confirmed details of the original statement. “…all three of us agreed to play this Musink show. So just like last year, when Travis couldn’t go to Australia and we got a fill-in drummer to replace Travis, we found a replacement guitarist for Tom on this show.”
“To then say, “I didn’t quit the band,” it’s just not true. It’s disingenuous. I just wish Tom does whatever makes him happy and stops holding Blink-182 back from what we all agree that we’re going to do: play shows, record music, continue this legacy and have a good time doing it,” a clearly frustrated Hoppus concluded.