The new-school punk trio blink-182 were formed in the suburbs of San Diego, California around guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor. Originally known as simply Blink, the band debuted in 1993 with a self-released EP, Fly Swatter. After releasing the album Buddha in 1994, the trio signed to Grilled Cheese/Cargo and released Cheshire Cat the following year. The threat of a lawsuit from a similarly named Irish band forced them to change their name to blink-182, but the group earned a higher profile touring the world with Pennywise and NOFX on the 1996-1997 ~Warped Tour, plus appearing on innumerable skate/surf/snowboarding videos.
The third blink-182 LP, Dude Ranch, was jointly released in 1997 by Cargo and MCA. Dude Ranch expanded the group's audience and went platinum by the end of 1998, due in part to the popularity of the infectious teen anthem Dammit (Growing Up). The group also signed officially with MCA, which released the band's fourth album, Enema of the State, in the summer of 1999. The album, produced by Jerry Finn (Green Day, Rancid), also welcomed a new member into the trio's ranks Travis Barker, formerly with the Aquabats, settled in on drums after Raynor left midway through a 1998 U.S. tour. Enema was greeted with almost immediate success, and helped the band achieve the mainstream status of toilet-humored pop-punk kings that Dude Ranch had only hinted at. Driven by the commercially successful singles What's My Age Again, All the Small Things, and Adam's Song, music videos for the three songs (whose clips included themes of streaking and boy band spoofs) were MTV smashes as well.
After selling over four million copies of Enema of the State, the trio played on with the limited-edition release The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back) in fall 2000. The album featured their radio hits in a live setting, intertwined with their quirky sense of humor as well as the new song Man Overboard. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, issued in spring 2001, saw the band return to its SoCal punk rock roots. Maturity, of a sort, came with 2003's self-titled album, released on Geffen. Not only did the album sport a song (All of This) that featured Robert Smith of the Cure, but I Miss You also topped the modern rock charts in 2005. In February 2005, however, popular as ever and seemingly indestructible, blink-182 unexpectedly announced they would be going on an indefinite hiatus, supposedly to spend more time with their growing families. Asking fans for help in selecting tracks, the group issued Greatest Hits that November.
The bandmembers also continued on with other projects. Barker -- who had previously released an album with DeLonge as Boxcar Racer -- continued playing with the Transplants and running his clothing company, Famous Stars and Straps. His family was also spotlighted in the MTV reality show Meet the Barkers. Hoppus carried on with his Atticus fashion venture, began producing -- starting with Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory -- and hosting his own podcasts. He further began work with Barker in a new band, Plus 44. DeLonge also continued work with his lifestyle clothing company, Macbeth, and formally announced his new project, Angels and Airwaves, that fall.
In 2009, blink-182 announced that they were reuniting and would be getting back to work on new material as well as touring again, hitting the road with Weezer for their reunion tour. They went into the studio later that year and began laying down the groundwork for a new album, which would be plagued by delays until 2011, when they were eventually able to release their sixth studio album, Neighborhoods. ~ John Bush & Corey Apar, Rovi
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