Josh and much of the music press reported the sad news of Tom Delonge’s departure from Blink-182, citing a release from the band’s publicist on the matter. Well now Delonge is telling a different story, saying he has not quit and has no clue what is going on, putting out a note on social media:
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
Now this would all be well and good, but the band spoke again to Rolling Stone and stood by their statement, calling Delonge “disingenuous,” and alleging that he has never wanted to be in the band:
[Barker] I think he’s just bummed because Mark and I were finally honest. We always covered up for him before. It was always, “We’re going to record an album,” then “Tom refuses to get into the studio without a record deal.” So everyone does hella amounts of work to get a record deal and now Tom isn’t part of Blink-182. It’s hard to cover for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful. You don’t even have the balls to call your bandmates and tell them you’re not going to record or do anything Blink-related. You have your manager do it. Everyone should know what the story is with him and it’s been years with it. When we did get back together after my plane crash, we only got back together, I don’t know, maybe because I almost died. But he didn’t even listen to mixes or masterings from that record. He didn’t even care about it. Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable…
[Hoppus] When Tom finally said, “I’m not going to go into the studio or play this show,” it was kind of a gigantic relief because at least he finally said it. But 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.
The band doesn’t hold back much, outlining all of their feelings during their reunion following Travis Barker’s near fatal plane crash and their more recent desires to get a new album off the ground. It’s worth a look if you truly want to get both sides of the story.
Now I know the band evolved a little from the days when I listened to their music. But I can’t help but chuckle about drama stemming from a band that titled one of their albums with a masturbation joke. It feels like we’re talking about strife with the creative direction of The Bloodhound Gang.
We’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out now. Since the band “sanctioned” the earlier statement, there could be a fairly public fight coming down the pipe with “legalities involved” according to Hoppus. Not a fun time to be a Blink-182 fan, at least not yet.
(Via Tom Delonge / Rolling Stone / Radio)
