“Life is too short to last long”. – Blink-182
One of the most influential pop punk bands in history, Blink-182 has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, and has been referred to as the “contemporary punk’s version of The Beatles”.
Here are a few things you might not know about Blink-182.
The original trio of Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Scott Raynor went by the names Duck Tape and Figure 8 before finally settling on Blink.
Their original band name was Blink, but an Irish band with the same name threatened them with a lawsuit. Perhaps Blink-1 through Blink-181 were taken?
A popular theory is that the 182 in Blink-182 is the number of times the F-word is said in Scarface, but there’s a good chance it has no meaning whatsoever. We’d like to think that it’s the number of times Tom DeLonge was abducted by aliens.
Once, while trying to impress Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus fell from a lamppost and cracked his ankles, an injury that put him in crutches for three weeks.
Mark Hoppus’ girlfriend was angry about how much time he was spending with the band and made him choose between the band or her. He left the band for a short time, but when he heard they were recording a demo tape, he broke up with his girlfriend and came back, which, history has shown, was probably the right move.
Blink-182 founder Tom DeLonge is a strong believer in alien life as evidenced by the song “Aliens Exist” which, as titles go, is pretty on-the-nose.
DeLonge was expelled from high school after he was caught drinking at a basketball game, but it was through the new school he was forced to attend that he met Scott Raynor and later Mark Hoppus.
In their early days, DeLonge would call up local high schools and try to convince them that Blink was a “motivational band with a strong antidrug message” in hopes of scoring a gig during an assembly or lunch.
When Scott Raynor’s family moved to Nevada, the drummer was briefly replaced by Mike Krull. But eventually, Raynor moved in with Hoppus for a summer, which is when they recorded their first album and filmed their first music video.
Things could have been so different for Mike Krull if Mark Hoppus didn’t have extra room in his basement.
History’s most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Making distraction rewarding since 2017.
The song “Josie” was named after a neighbor’s dog. We’re really hoping that the dog also brought Blink-182 Mexican food from Sombero’s. Just because. Yeah.
Just because.
Fletcher Dragge, the lead guitarist of Pennywise, believed very strongly in Blink-182 and demanded that Kevin Lyman, founder of the Warped Tour, sign the band for the 1996 festival, telling him that “they’re gonna be gigantic”. He wasn’t wrong.
Wikimedia Commons, Stefan Brending
After they signed with MCA, they were criticized by the punk community for “selling out”. Hey, if 15 million albums sold is “selling out” then sign us up.
Blink-182’s original drummer, Scott Raynor, was fired in the middle of a 1998 tour because of his alcohol abuse. Okay.
Rock stars drink a lot and stereotypes exist for a reason.
Raynor was replaced by Travis Barker, who was actually the former drummer for the Aquabats, a California-based pop punk band who claim to be crime-fighting superheroes.
Filling in on the tour from which Raynor was just fired, Travis Barker learned the entire 20-song setlist in 45 minutes before the first show.
This means that Barker is either a gifted drummer or Blink-182 songs are really not that difficult.
Travis Barker’s name in the Aquabats was Baron Von Tito. He was not an actual baron.
Before joining the Aquabats, Travis Barker was a garbage man. So he was still playing with drums.
Except the drums were full of garbage.
Mark Hoppus used to be only member of the band without tattoos. Now he has two wrist tattoos. One on each wrist representing his wife and daughter.
The distinctive riff from the song “Dammit” was the result of two missing strings on Mark Hoppus’ guitar. If only he’d lost two more strings, the riff might have been twice as good.
The song “What’s My Age Again”? was originally titled “Peter Pan Complex”. Either way, it has a great hook.
We’ll let ourselves out.
The video for “All the Small Things” was filmed on the same beach as One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”. We think a Blink-182/One Direction crossover album entitled “What Makes You Beautiful are All the Small Things” is definitely called for.
The song “Emo” was a tribute to one of DeLonge’s favorite bands, Jimmy Eat World.
The band has never received particularly good reviews, with many reviewers dismissing them as a joke.
British publication NME was rather critical of the band, begging them to “screw right off”.
The nurse on the cover of Enema of the State was none other than porn star Janine Lindemulder.
Alternative titles for Enema of the State included “Turn Your Head and Cough,” “Viking Wizard Eyes,” and “Blink-182: Electric Boogaloo”.
The band had a cameo appearance in the film American Pie. Not in an actual American Pie.
That was all Jason Biggs.
American Pie, Universal Pictures
Mark Hoppus was one of Tom DeLonge’s groomsmen at his 2001 wedding. He gave each of his groomsmen a silver yo-yo from Tiffany & Co. This begs the question: Why is Tiffany selling yo-yos?!
When MCA record executives came to hear the new material the band was recording for Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the band only played two gag songs, one of which was titled “When You [redacted] Grandpa,” and included the lyrics, “Did he tie your hands behind your head and was it on your mother’s bed”? The record execs were justifiably terrified.
We think we missed out on a couple of great songs.
DeLonge constantly felt creatively stifled and during his time off from touring, he channeled his chronic back pain and frustration into the album Box Car Racer, a concept album detailing the end of the world that explored his love of Fugazi and Refused.
Instead of hiring another drummer, DeLonge used Travis Barker for the album which Mark Hoppus viewed as a betrayal and led to even more divisiveness within the band.
Barker also explored hip-hop by teaming up with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong to form Transplants, a rock rap band.
In 2003, the band performed for the troops in the Persian Gulf and said they got the luxury experience. “We ate macaroni and mayonnaise. The troops said, ‘We never get food like this’”.Macaroni and mayonnaise is a luxury?
! We really need to do a better job of supporting our troops.
Citing creative differences and family pressures, Tom DeLonge left the band in 2005, and was silent until later that year when he announced his new project, Angels & Airwaves, which he promised would be “the greatest rock and roll revolution for this generation”. He seemed not to notice exactly how ambitious this was.
During the hiatus, Barker and Hoppus continued to make music, forming the band +44, whose debut, When Your Heart Stops Beating, received mixed reviews.
+44 is named after the international dialing code for the United Kingdom, the country where the duo first discussed the project.
Travis Barker starred in a reality TV series called Meet the Barkers with his then-wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, who’s ex-boyfriend is famed boxer Oscar de la Hoya.
Getty Images
For three years after the breakup, the band members did not speak to each other at all.
On September 19th, 2008, Travis Barker and his friend Adam Goldstein, were the sole survivors of a plane crash that killed four other people. Barker sustained second and third degree burns, developed PTSD, and required sixteen surgeries.
Upon hearing of the crash, Hoppus immediately jumped on the next flight to the burn center and DeLonge quickly reached out with a letter and a photograph.
The band reunited shortly afterwards.
Blink-182 appeared for the first time on stage together in nearly five years as presenters at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Because of the band’s first split, each of the members had his own attorney, and during recording sessions for their new album Neighborhoods, the band had four managers. This resulted in quite a bit of frustration with DeLonge referring to the attorneys, managers, and publicists as “the absolute diarrhea of bureaucracy”. Eloquent.
DeLonge abruptly quit the band again in 2014 but came back a day later suggesting that the band undergo group therapy with motivational speaker Tony Robbins. If we only had a penny for every time we’ve heard that one.
DeLonge left the band for good (maybe) in January 2015 to spend more time on “non-musical activities,” which we imagine would put a serious kibosh on a game of musical chairs.
With Matt Skiba taking the place of Tom DeLonge, Blink-182’s latest album, California, became the band’s second number-one album on the Billboard 200 and their first in 15 years.
The band has cited The Cure, Descendents, Bad Religion, Screeching Weasel, All, Face to Face, Down by Law, Pennywise, Green Day, The Vandals, Operation Ivy, the Ramones, Refused, and Fugazi as influences.
Us too.
Bands that cite Blink-182 as an influence include Good Charlotte, 5 Seconds of Summer, Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, and Mumford & Sons. Us too.
My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.
Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.
Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.
Dear reader,
Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!
Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!
Warmest regards,
The Factinate team
If you like humaverse you may also consider subscribing to these newsletters:
