Tom DeLonge quits Blink-182?

27 January 2015 | 8:52 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

It's been a turbulent day for Blink-182, as a trial of he-said, he said has plagued the band with guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge apparently leaving the band indefinitely.

It's been a turbulent day for Blink-182, as a trial of he-said, he said has plagued the band with guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge apparently leaving the band indefinitely.

Bassist/singer Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker announced earlier today that DeLonge, who's been in the band for over 20 years now, had left the band and that Alkaline Trio frontman, Matt Skiba would step in as a replacement for an upcoming show. Below is a press statement from the band

"Matt Skiba of the Alkaline Trio will join Blink-182 in replacement of Tom DeLonge at the 8th annual Musink Music and Tattoo festival.  “We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavours.” Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus plan to honor all Blink-182 commitments including the Musink Festival and are excited to have singer/guitarist Matt Skiba join them for this project.  “No hard feelings, but the show must go on for our fans.” Additionally, Skiba will continue to make new music and tour with the Alkaline Trio."

This was all followed up by DeLonge releasing a brief statement on social media saying that he had not, in fact, quit the group.

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"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....."

The founding member also diluted the story of these events with a tweet saying that, "A year ago Mark and I spent a week on the phone with managers debating parting with Travis... Don't pretend there isn't more to this story."

In a way of discussing the line-up change, the rhythm-section duo conducted an interview with US publication, Rolling Stone (you can read the full interview here), to inform fans of the issues within the band, and how DeLonge was holding the band back from recording a new album.

"We booked January 5th to go into the studio. On December 30th, we get an e-mail from Tom's manager saying that he has no interest in recording and that he wants to do his other, non-musical stuff and that he's out indefinitely. There's a flurry of e-mails going back and forth for clarification about the recording and the show and his manager sends back saying, 'Tom is out, indefinitely'. This is the exact same e-mail we got back in 2004 when Tom went on indefinite hiatus before. But last time, Travis and I took a step back and said OK and we just kept our mouths shut. But 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."

The bassist then continued to open up about the bands inner workings.

It feels humiliating to be in a band where you have to be apologising for one person all the time. That's how it's felt for a long time. 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."

All of these events, which are still developing, will more than likely negatively impact the prospect of a new album, and perhaps future tours, for the band.