Blink-182 has been through a lot. Since forming in 1992, the rock band — a staple of the late ’90s, early 2000s punk takeover — has experienced several fallings-out, lineup changes, hiatuses and reunions that have kept fans on their toes for two decades and counting. For those keeping track, Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, Scott Raynor and Matt Skiba have all been part of the group throughout its various iterations, but never more than three of them at a time.
But while many things have changed for the band over the years, one thing is for certain as far as fans are concerned: Whenever they are together, the guys of Blink-182 make some good music. They have the commercial success to prove it, too. According to Luminate, the group’s eight-album catalog has raked in a combined 15.3 million copies sold and nearly five billion on-demand official U.S. streams.
Not to mention its chart successes, which solidify the band’s status as pop-punk artists who have paved the way for several acts following in its footsteps. Blink-182 has topped both the Billboard 200 and the Album Sales charts twice, scored four No. 1s on the Alternative Airplay chart and notched eight songs in the Billboard Hot 100.
That’s why it was so exciting for fans when the band announced in October 2022 that after seven years away, DeLonge would be returning to Blink-182, restoring its classic lineup with Barker and Hoppus. The trio revealed plans to go on a reunion tour in 2023, dropped a new single in celebration of DeLonge’s homecoming titled “Edging” and went on to become impromptu headliners for Coachella 2023’s second weekend lineup after Frank Ocean dropped out. And then there’s the new album that Hoppus has promised is “one of the best albums we’ve ever made.”
The very first lineup of Blink-182 — back before that was even their name — included Scott Raynor, Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus. The story goes that San Diego natives Raynor and DeLonge first met after the latter was expelled from Poway High for being drunk at a basketball game and transferred to the former’s school, Rancho Bernardo High. They met Hoppus through a friend’s sister, who was dating the bassist at the time.
After experimenting with a handful of different titles, the band operated for years simply as “Blink,” releasing its demo album Buddha in 1992, and its official debut album Cheshire Cat in 1995 under that moniker.
Though the band has given many fanciful stories over the years when asked where the specific number in “Blink-182” came from — the number of times Al Pacino drops the F-bomb in Scarface, for example — Hoppus has stated that the guys picked it out completely at random.
Their label at the time, Cargo Records, had asked them to change their name because another group had the same moniker, Hoppus said during a chat with Amy Schumer. He, DeLonge and Raynor delayed the decision for so long, someone from the label spoke with them on the phone and said that if they didn’t pick something new before the call ended, Cargo would choose a name for them.
“We just made up the 182,” Hoppus told the comedian. “Ever since then, we’ve made up different stories all the time about what 182 means.”
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