The original lineup of Blink-182, Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge, have returned with their first album together since DeLonge left the band in 2015, titled ‘One More Time’.
In a new video with interviewer Zane Lowe, the bandmates got candid about their past disagreements and how Hoppus’ diagnosis with stage four Lymphoma helped them see the bigger picture.
“I didn’t know that Blink would ever get back together, or that I would ever share a stage with Tom. I told management, I told Travis, I told everybody, I’m not setting foot on stage with that dude again,” said Hoppus about his falling out with DeLonge.
“Then, honestly, I got sick. Just by random chance, Tom hit me up,” Hoppus continued. “I’m like … by the way I have Lymphoma, and Tom snapped into this person and immediately was like, called me every morning, ‘What’s going on? How are you feeling? Let’s go. Let’s get you through this. You’re gonna beat this.’ And I hadn’t really heard that.”
Hoppus goes on to explain how reconnecting with DeLonge and writing music together for the first time in eight years helped him heal from the trauma left behind by chemotherapy.
“Once I was clear of the cancer diagnosis … I still was just a hollow just shell, just shitty, weak, brain eaten with chemotherapy and pain,” he said. “The chemotherapy wrecked my vocal cords. I had to go work with a vocal coach, I had to rebuild my throat …. to get to the point where we could walk on stage at Coachella and have one of the biggest shows of our career.”
“Touch wood, this album is one of the best albums we’ve ever written,” said Hoppus. “It’s all through the healing of this band and this music and this record. We sat down at the very beginning and said, ‘The only way we’re going to do Blink-182 again is if it’s fucking fun.’”
