Blink-182 members still at odds with Tom DeLonge

Blink-182 has yet to patch things up from that messy internal conflict that played out in front of fans earlier this year.

In January, band members Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus issued a statement announcing they had drafted Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba for their headlining performance at an Orange County festival after guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge was sitting out “indefinitely.”

Hours later DeLonge issued a counter statement, denying he ever quit the pop-punk trio. From there things got pretty dirty.

Barker and Hoppus blasted DeLonge in a Rolling Stone interview, calling him “ungrateful and disingenuous.” DeLonge then penned a lengthy open letter defending his commitment to the group but detailed contractual provisions and disastrous recording experiences that, he said, pushed him away.

Months later, it doesn’t look like things are close to being patched up.

In a recent interview with Alternative Nation, Barker – amid the drama he said the band only reunited from a previous hiatus because of the 2008 plane crash that he survived – admitted he has no bad feelings toward DeLonge, but wishes he would just officially walk away from the trio.

“I think the right thing for him to do would just man up and quit the band instead of telling people he didn’t quit and just be real with the fans,” Barker said earlier this week. “I think that would give him some closure too and really do what he’s passionate about. Even amongst all the other projects I do, I can always find a way to prioritize and still be passionate about Blink-182 when it comes around. I love playing, listening, and everything about punk rock. It changed my life. I think for Tom, he doesn’t like punk music and it was a phase for him.”

Barker went on reveal this is the third time DeLonge has walked away from the band; however the band choose not to make other impasses public, “but this is just the last straw.”

“It’s just not cool for the fans. He’d always agree to go on huge tours and record albums, but when it came down to going into the studio, he’d find some excuse not to,” Barker added. “And we wouldn’t even hear from him, it would be his management. It comes to a point where you decide you’re not going to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do and it’s time to move on.”

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