Today marks another bump in the road for Blink-182, as an official statement from the band has revealed that guitarist and founding member Tom Delonge has left the band. According to Consequence of Sound, a statement issued by the band’s publicist reveals how close we were to new Blink material:
“A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email 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.”
Things first became questionable earlier this morning, when the lineup for the Musink Festival was released featuring Rancid, Bad Religion, and Blink-182 With Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio as the festival’s headliners. Speculation swirled that DeLonge was either leaving, had left, or was temporarily busy with Angels and Airwaves and would not be playing the show. The statement from the band, however, confirms that Tom has left the band.
There is no official word as to whether or not Matt Skiba will be DeLonge’s permanent replacement. It has already been stated that Skiba will continue to be a full-time member of Alkaline Trio.
Not ones to lean towards another hiatus, Mark and Travis added that there are “No hard feelings,” but “the show must go on for our fans.”
Mark Hoppus sent out reassurance to fans via Twitter that this will still be the same band they know and love:
https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/559802204953919488
UPDATED: Tom Delonge isn’t (?) out of the band? This is from his Instagram account.
UPDATED AGAIN: Tom Delonge is definitely out of the band. A Rolling Stone interview with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker sets the record straight.
Clever (totally not real) names for the new hybrid band could include the following:
Blink 18Trio
+47
The Mark, Matt, and Travis Show
Atheists Without Antennas
Dumpweed Trio
Dammit, Tom.
(We Didn’t) Stay Together For The Kids: A Blink-182 Retrospective
