blink-182

blink-182 formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Mark Hoppus (bass, vocals), Tom DeLonge (guitar, vocals) and drummer Scott Raynor were teenagers who wanted to play fast, dumb, honest punk rock. They called themselves blink.

A lawsuit from an Irish band forced them to add a number — they picked 182, allegedly at random. They released Cheshire Cat in 1994 on tiny Cargo Music, then Dude Ranch in 1997 on MCA. That album had Dammit, the song that got them on Warped Tour and into every skate video of the 90s.

Travis Barker replaced Scott Raynor in 1998. Travis was already a phenomenon in The Aquabats — he could play anything, fast, hard, and with perfect timing. Overnight blink-182 went from a good punk band to one of the tightest rhythm sections in rock.

Enema of the State (1999) was the result — 12 songs, 35 minutes, 15 million copies sold. What's My Age Again?, All the Small Things, and Adam's Song were on MTV non-stop.

They were suddenly the biggest band in America, and Mark and Tom were on TRL in their underwear.

Then things got weird. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) was a bigger, dumber version of Enema. But the self-titled album in 2003 was something else entirely — dark, experimental, atmospheric.

I Miss You was a Robert Smith song. Stockholm Syndrome was seven minutes long. Always had three-part harmonies.

Then they broke up in 2005. Tom started Angels & Airwaves, Mark and Travis started +44. They reunited in 2009, released Neighborhoods in 2011, lost Tom in 2015, recruited Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, released California and Nine, and then — in 2022 — Mark beat cancer and Tom came back.

One More Time came out in 2023.

Dude Ranch (June 1997) was the album that built the audience. Dammit is the song every kid in 1997 learned on guitar — three chords, a chorus everyone screamed, a bassline you could play the first time you picked up a bass. Josie was the love song.

Apple Shampoo and Emo were peak pop-punk. The album sold a million copies on the strength of skateboarding videos and word of mouth. Then Travis joined, and everything changed.

Enema of the State (June 1999) is still the best pop-punk album ever made. What's My Age Again? opens with that drum fill and doesn't let up.

All the Small Things is the single that turned them into global pop stars — the Wah-wah backing vocals, the "na na na" outro, the video parodying every boy band on MTV. Adam's Song is the dark one, the suicide note song, completely sincere. Dumpweed, Aliens Exist, Going Away to College, Dysentery Gary — every track is a hit.

The album sold 15 million worldwide and defined pop-punk for the next decade.

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (June 2001) was bigger, louder, dumber. First Date is the best song on it — a pop-punk love song about the anxiety of asking someone out. The Rock Show was the single about skipping work to go see a band.

Anthem Part Two opened the album with Travis going nuclear. Stay Together for the Kids was the emotional one — Mark and Tom's parents had both divorced, and they wrote a song about it. 14 million copies.

blink-182 (November 2003) was the artistic statement. They wanted to prove they were more than "that band from What's My Age Again?".

So they made a dark, experimental album. I Miss You has a stand-up bass, no guitars for most of it, and one of the best vocal performances of Tom's career. Feeling This is the opener — a song about sex that sounds like joy.

Down is pure melancholy. Always has that synthesizer riff. Stockholm Syndrome is seven minutes of something completely different.

Then they broke up.

Neighborhoods (2011), California (2016), and Nine (2019) were the reunion years. Up All Night and Ghost on the Dance Floor from Neighborhoods brought back the energy. California (with Matt Skiba) was a return-to-form with Bored to Death as the single.

Nine was darker — Darkside and I Really Wish I Hated You are the standouts. Then One More Time..

. (2023) brought Tom back and delivered the best blink album in 20 years. The title track is Mark singing to his best friend about almost dying from cancer.

It's the song they never could have written in 1999.

blink-182 are the reason pop-punk became the default sound of the 2000s. Every band from Fall Out Boy to Paramore to Good Charlotte to Sum 41 owes them a direct debt. The formula — fast tempo, power chords, confessional lyrics about being a teenager, one ballad per album — was invented by the Descendents and perfected by blink-182.

Then a generation copied the perfection.

They also reshaped what a rock drummer could be. Travis Barker is the Neil Peart of pop-punk — a drummer so fast, so technical, and so visible that he became a household name from a genre that doesn't usually produce household names. He's collaborated with Machine Gun Kelly, Post Malone, Avril Lavigne, Trippie Redd, and every Latin trap artist who wanted a pop-punk remix.

The pop-punk revival of 2020-2024 exists because of Travis Barker.

Mark Hoppus beating cancer in 2022 and Tom DeLonge coming back that same year is one of the most emotional stories in modern rock. One More Time..

. (the song and the album) is a 35-minute thank-you to the audience, to each other, and to the fact that the band still exists at all. They played Coachella in 2023 to 100,000 people screaming "nobody likes you when you're 23".

Everyone crying. Best comeback in pop-punk history.