For weeks, fans of Blink 182 were left unsettled over the news of guitarist Tom Delonge's supposed departure from the band. It all started when members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker made a statement claiming that Delonge is out of Blink 182. Almost immediatly, Delonge responded to the statement, claiming that he is still part of the band and finds the press release "weird."
Barker and Hoppus went further to address the issue in a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone. The two revealed that the guitarist has been holding the band back for years, refusing to do certain shows and record material with the group. Barker went as far as calling his estranged bandmate "ungrateful."
Delonge once again responded via his Twitter account saying, "A year ago Mark and I spent a week on the phone with managers debating parting with Travis...Don't pretend there isn't more to the story." The tweet has since been deleted.
Since then it has been established that Delonge is definitely out of the band with Barker and Hoppus acquiring the talents of renowned punk frontman Matt Skiba of band Alkaline Trio. However, it is yet uncertain if Skiba will stay permanently.
"We haven't played a show with Matt yet, so it's too soon to really say what goes beyond on that," Hoppus said in an exclusive interview with Alternative Press.
"He's not going to try and walk onstage and be Tom. He's going to be himself as a member of Blink that day."
The band is slated to play in the upcoming Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival on March 22.
Barker posted on his Instagram the first photo of rehearsals with Matt Skiba, captioning the image "It has begun and it's awesome."
