On Monday, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182 announced that guitarist Tom DeLonge had left the band.
“We were all set to play this festival and record a new album, and Tom kept putting it off without reason,” Barker and Hoppus said in a statement. “A week before we were scheduled to go into 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, nonmusical endeavors.”
However, DeLonge later responded to this announcement and stated on Facebook that he had not left the group:
After it was reported that DeLonge was no longer a part of Blink-182, Barker and Hoppus spoke with Rolling Stone and revealed that DeLonge’s manager had told them in an email that DeLonge had left the band. They also explained that they have had problems with DeLonge for years.
“It’s hard to cover for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful,” Barker said, referring to DeLonge. “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. Everyone should know what the story is with him and it’s been years with it.”
“When Tom finally said, ‘I’m not going to go into the studio or play this show,’ it was kind of a gigantic relief because at least he finally said it,” Hoppus added. “But to then say, ‘I didn’t quit the band,’ it’s just not true. It’s disingenuous. I just wish Tom does whatever makes him happy and stops holding Blink-182 back from what we all agree that we’re going to do: play shows, record music, continue this legacy and have a good time doing it.”
DeLonge fired back in a letter to his fans on his Facebook page to tell his side of the story. He claimed that recording for 2012’s Dogs Eating Dogs was a time of “self-sabotage” and that he spent two months in the studio while the other two members only came in for eleven days.
He also stated that Barker and Hoppus tried to delay his album with his side project Angels & Airwaves which led to a rift in the band. DeLonge added that he loves Barker and Hoppus “like brothers and like old friends” but their relationship was “poisoned yesterday.”
“Never planned on quitting, just find it hard as hell to commit,” he concluded.
Read the full letter below:
