DeLonge Responds to Barker, Hoppus With Letter

Blink-182's DeLonge responds to Barker and Hoppus in Facebook letter

All the small things add up, as Blink-182's Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus are finding.

To catch you up, on Monday the band circulated a press release announcing that Alkaline Trio guitarist/singer Matt Skiba would be taking DeLonge's place in the band for their performance at the Musink tattoo convention and music festival. Shortly after, DeLonge took to Instagram to say, "I never quit the band." Then "Rolling Stone" published an exclusive interview with Barker and Hoppus revealing that, as far as they're concerned, DeLonge's representatives made it clear that he's no longer interested in being a part of Blink.


Read our Tuesday recap of the Blink-182 dispute.


Somewhere in all that, DeLonge reportedly tweeted (and subsequently deleted) that he and Hoppus had talked about replacing Barker as recently as a year ago.

Now, the latest installment: DeLonge responded Tuesday with an open letter to fans on Facebook, giving his side of all the happenings and remarking -- repeatedly -- that he loves Blink and has been trying to make it work. "Never planned on quitting," he ends the letter, "just find it hard as hell to commit."

While DeLonge presents details that explain why he's having a hard time committing to Blink throughout the letter (other obligations, strict contracts, band politics, etc.), he does gloss over a remark that Hoppus made to "Rolling Stone" during that exclusive interview: the e-mail that Hoppus says he received from DeLonge's manager just days before Blink was supposed to get back in the studio. Quoting the email, Hoppus says, "...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."

It can't be long before the other side responds again -- but fortunately, it turns out Blink-182 songs have produced a gold mine from which to develop bad puns, and that dear gift shall not be wasted in subsequent posts. So just sit back, relax and get down with another band from the Blink era, because, as the great Fred Durst would have it, "It's all about the he-said, she-said bulls---."

Hannah Lott-Schwartz, a San Diego native, moved back to the area after working the magazine-publishing scene in Boston. Now she’s straight trolling SD for all the music she missed while away. Want to help? Hit her up with just about anything at all over on Twitter, where -- though not always work-appropriate -- she means well.

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