Tom DeLonge: I didn’t think I’d play music again… until Mark Hoppus told me he was sick
blink-182 will soon be sharing a new tell-all interview with Zane Lowe – and in a teaser trailer for the candid conversation, Tom DeLonge admits he was ready to give up music until Mark Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer.
Yesterday, to mark the announcement of their highly-anticipated new album ONE MORE TIME… – which is due out on October 20 – blink-182 unveiled a fascinating, almost four-minute-long teaser video featuring a brand-new interview (as well as some new music snippets).
For the first time since frontman Tom DeLonge rejoined last year, the pop-punk legends meet Zane Lowe for a candid chat in which they apparently ‘discuss topics they have never shared before’, according to a press release.
While the full interview isn’t here yet, the teaser gives us plenty of new info, like Tom admitting he’d been thinking about ditching music completely until he found out that his then-former bandmate Mark Hoppus had been diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago (the bassist confirmed he was “cancer free” in September 2021).
“I remember telling my wife, like, ‘I don’t think I'm ever gonna play music again, I don’t think I'm ever gonna tour again,’” Tom recalls. “Until Mark told me he was sick, and then I was like, ‘That was the only thing I wanna do.’”
After Mark details the pain he experienced undergoing chemo, as well as how it “wrecked” his vocal chords, Tom adds: “When he told me he was sick, that’s the gnarliest… like, nothing matters, really.
“It wasn’t about fame or money or how big blink was or anything, it was like, ‘You’re gonna get through this shit, and we’re gonna go dominate.’”
Watch the trailer below:
See the ONE MORE TIME… tracklist:
1. ANTHEM PART 3
2. DANCE WITH ME
3. FELL IN LOVE
4. TERRIFIED
5. ONE MORE TIME
6. MORE THAN YOU KNOW
7. TURN THIS OFF!
8. WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
9. EDGING
10. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT
11. BLINK WAVE
12. BAD NEWS
13. HURT (INTERLUDE)
14. TURPENTINE
15. FUCK FACE
16. OTHER SIDE
17. CHILDHOOD
Catch blink-182 at the following UK dates next month:
October
11 London The O2
12 London The O2
14 Birmingham Utilita Arena
15 Manchester AO Arena
16 Manchester AO Arena
Read this: Tom DeLonge: My life in 10 songs