Pop Punk
Tom DeLonge Thanks Matt Skiba for Keeping Blink-182 Alive
After Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 in 2015, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker turned to Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio to continue the project. Blink’s classic lineup is now reuniting, and DeLonge has shared a message thanking Skiba for “all that you have done to keep the band alive.” “I sent this to Matt personally,” DeLonge wrote in a social media statement, “but it’s important for the world to know that I honor him.” The letter reads: “I wanted to take a minute and say thank you for all that you have done to keep the band alive and thriving in my absence. I think you are enormously talented (I still love to listen to your band to this day). You have always been so kind to me, not only in the press, but also to others. I really noticed. Emotions between the three of us in...
A Timeline of Blink-182’s Lineup Changes
Millennials rejoiced when Blink-182 announced that their most iconic lineup — bassist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker, and guitarist Tom DeLonge — was reuniting for new music and a world tour. Since 2015, Hoppus and Barker had carried on the pop punk band’s tradition with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba, but the return of DeLonge signaled a return to their goofball heydey — complete with a ridiculous announcement video that repeated, over and over, that they were “coming.” On October 14th, the classic Blink-182 lineup will officially return with a new song called “Edging,” and next year, they’ll embark on a world tour that includes stops in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand (equally noteworthy is a headlining show at the second addition of the When We Were Youn...
Blink-182’s 10 Best Songs
This feature originally ran in February 2015. We’re revisiting it in celebration of Blink-182’s upcoming reunion tour and new music. “What is it about 20-somethings?” asks the title of a New York Times Magazine article published in 2010. The subtext to that question is another question: “Why are people in their 20s finding it so hard to grow up?” The answers range from changing social mores to an uncertain job market, but maybe it’s even simpler than that. Maybe a new generation of so-called “millennials” is finally starting to understand a line they heard in a song back in 1999: “Nobody likes you when you’re 23.” If you’re a sociologist searching for Ground Zero — that time when the 20s shifted from a life stage of “emerging adulthood” to one of “prolonged adolescence” — an album called E...
Mark Hoppus Writing Memoir About Blink-182 and Surviving Cancer
As if Blink-182 reuniting their classic lineup wasn’t exciting enough, Mark Hoppus has revealed he’s working on a memoir about his career with the band and recent battle with cancer. In a red carpet interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the singer and bassist said he was “finalizing the deal” for the book, which he started writing earlier this year. “I’m not that far into it yet but I’m writing a book about my life and experience in Blink and what I’ve gone through over the past year or so,” Hoppus said about the project, which he described to THR as a combination of a music memoir and medical journey. “We’re finalizing the deal and I’m really happy with the way that’s coming together. I’m excited to tell my story.” Hoppus also spoke about accidentally revealing his battle with diffu...
How to Get Tickets to Blink-182’s 2023 Reunion Tour
Blink-182 have returned under their classic lineup of Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker, and the pop-punk trio are clearly “Feeling This” reunion because tickets to their world tour span all the way into 2024. The massive trek will mark their first live performances together in nearly a decade and will also cover new ground with the addition of their first Latin American leg on top of full North American, European, and Australian runs. Get tickets here, and read on for more details including pre-sale dates. What Is Blink-182’s Next Tour? The reunited Blink-182 will first take the stage at Tijuana, Mexico’s Imperial GNP festival on March 11th, 2023. They’ll embark on their first Latin American trek with headlining performances in Peru, Paraguay, and more throughout March...
Demi Lovato Rages at “HOLY FVCK” Tour Stop in Sacramento: Review and Setlist
After months of anticipation and the release of a rock-centric new album, Demi Lovato played their first solo show on the US leg of their “HOLY FVCK” tour (grab tickets here) at Sacramento’s Hard Rock Live on Thursday night (September 22nd). Dressed in all red and supported by an incredible backing band, Lovato was in excellent form, showcasing her powerhouse vocals while proving they’re well-suited for just about any genre, be it the pop sound that comprised Lovato’s last several albums, or the heavier rock tone that persists on her 2022 entry Holy Fvck. First up was opener Dead Sara, a Los Angeles five-piece who ripped their way through a barrage of tracks that combined hard rock, punk, and grunge elements. Frontwoman Emily Armstrong — who also features on the Holy Fvck album standout “H...
YUNGBLUD on How Information Kills Art, Sampling The Cure, and Channeling Radiohead
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS YUNGBLUD joins Kyle Meredith to talk about his new self-titled LP. The British musician/actor a.k.a. Dominic Harrison talks about the joy of midnight album releases, why he chose to self-title the record, the criticism one gets when getting more famous, and how those moments found their way into songs like “The Funeral.” Advertisement Related Video He also discusses the conversational style of lyrics he was going for this time around; sampling The Cure; channeling Radiohead and The Jam; and coming up alongside artists like Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, and Mac Miller. Listen to YUNGBLUD discuss his new ...
Avril Lavigne Honored With Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: ‘What an Amazing 20 Years’
Avril Lavigne received her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of her debut album Let Go. During the ceremony, the pop-punk pioneer reflected on her very first trip to Los Angeles at 16, and the first time she ever saw the famous star-lined path. She even unveiled a picture of her teenage self from that trip, wearing a navy hoodie emblazoned with the words “Skateboarding is a Crime” and made a surprise quick change into that very same sweatshirt mid-speech. “Today, I love making music more than ever,” the singer said from the podium, according to Variety. “I feel so inspired. And I hope that the next 16-year-old from their small town who comes to Hollywood one day, full of hopes and dreams, sees this star and thinks to themself, ‘O...
Mark Hoppus Teaches Beauty School Dropout the Rock Star Ropes in ‘Almost Famous’ Video: Exclusive
Mark Hoppus is a super hands-on boss. That might explain why the Blink-182 bassist/singer co-stars in the video for up-and-coming pop punk band Beauty School Dropout’s single, “Almost Famous,” which Billboard is exclusively premiering today (August 31). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The earworm song appears on their debut album, We Made Plans & God Laughed, which was released earlier this month on the new Verswire label, whose founders include Hoppus and strategic advisor/Fall Out Boy bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz. The video is a playful send-up of life as a baby band, with Hoppus playing the role of perpetually annoyed industry veteran trying to teach the guys how things really work. It opens with Mark telling a group of scruffy dudes to p...
My Chemical Romance Launch North American Tour with Howlingly Chaotic Oklahoma City Show: Recap, Photos + Setlist
Donning a green camo jacket and a face full of Heath Ledger-style Joker makeup, Gerard Way leads My Chemical Romance into their first North American tour in more than 900 days, often channeling the same chaotic energy of whom he decorated his visage. The fizzing static distortions in the intro to “The Foundations of Decay,” the surprise single released this May in support of the reunion tour, practically serve as white noise behind the jubilant roars of the crowd as the band takes the stage inside Oklahoma City’s Paycom Arena. (Grab tickets to the rest of MCR’s tour dates here.) Clocking in at an epic six minutes, “The Foundations of Decay” features a bite-sized version of the same world-building story-craft often associated with the My Chemical Romance albums. Way’s soft-spoken early vers...
Mark Hoppus Hints at “Next Phase” of Blink-182 After Reconciling with Tom DeLonge
Based on People magazine’s new interview with Mark Hoppus, it’s looking increasingly likely that the future of Blink-182 will once again include Tom DeLonge. While speaking about his recovery from cancer, Hoppus opened up about a home visit with DeLonge and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker that left the trio in “a really great place right now.” “It was the first time that all three of us were in the same room in like five years,” Hoppus recalled about the informal reunion, which took place before he began chemotherapy in 2021 for stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. “It’s actually better than it used to be. There was no agenda. There were no lingering grudges. It felt very back to what it should be: three friends sitting in a room.” Adding that the renewed connection was crucial...
WILLOW Announces New Album, Shares “hover like a GODDESS”: Stream
WILLOW has announced her forthcoming album <COPINGMECHANISM> and released a new single called “hover like a GODDESS.” The Hollywood progeny’s fifth studio will be released September 23rd as a follow-up to 2021’s lately I feel EVERYTHING. She initially previewed the album by sharing “<maybe> it’s my fault” as the lead sinle. In the Jaxon Whittington-helmed video for “hover like a GODDESS,” WILLOW is bathed in neon-tinged light as she sings, “When I walk, you fuckin’ hover like a goddess/ Just meet me under the covers, baby, I wish/ I’ve gotta be free, my army intends to please you/ Touches the vinyl, like you to say/ Yeah” over hard-charging electric guitars and drums. “Every woman deserves to be worshipped,” she added about the new single in a statement. “This song is an ode to...
