The co-lead vocalist denies leaving the trio after bandmates Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker announce they've hired another vocalist to fill in for him at an upcoming live show.
- Jan 27, 2015
AceShowbiz - Things between Tom DeLonge and his Blink-182 bandmates get worse. On Monday, January 26, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker hinted at DeLonge's departure when they announced they'd hired vocalist from another band to fill in for him at an upcoming live gig. Later in the day, he denied he'd leave the trio he co-founded.
Now, Hoppus and Barker explained what actually happened within the band as they expressed their frustration over DeLonge's attitude in a new interview with Rolling Stone. They called him "disrespectful" and "ungrateful" at one point.
The two revealed they were about to start working on a new album when DeLonge decided he didn't want to work on anything related to the band. "On Christmas Eve, all three people signed the record deal. We had been talking about where we wanted to record, what producers we want to use, what day we want to start. This is all through e-mail. I don't think either of us have spoken to Tom in person in months, but everything's been moving positively," Hoppus told the site.
They were heading to studio when DeLonge's manager sent them an email saying he had "no interest in recording and that he wants to do his other, non-musical stuff and that he's out indefinitely." They added, "There's a flurry of e-mails going back and forth for clarification about the recording and the show and his manager sends [an e-mail] back saying, 'Tom. Is. Out.' Direct quote. This is the exact same e-mail we got back in 2004 when Tom went on indefinite hiatus before."
Asked about their reaction when DeLonge denied his exit from Blink-182, Barker said, "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," he added. "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."
Rumors about DeLonge leaving the trio started swirling after Hoppus and Barker said they'd have Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio joining them for their headlining set at the last night of the three-day MusInk Tattoo & Music Festival. The event, which is organized by Barker, is scheduled to run from March 20 through March 22.
"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 e-mail 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 endeavors. No hard feelings, but the show must go on for our fans," they announced.
DeLonge then issued a statement on Instagram to deny the rumors. "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," he wrote. "Apparently those releases were 'sanctioned' from the band. Are we dysfunctional- yes. But, Christ..... #Awkward #BabyBackRibs."
