Tom was born Thomas Matthew DeLonge in Poway, San Diego. Although coming from nurturing background he was a problematic child. Tom discovered alcohol at an early age, and was expelled before his 15th birthday for drinking at a basketball game. He was also known for waking his parents up during the wee hours by blowing noteless tunes from a trumpet. Although not seemingly talented with music he did apply himself to the guitar. He became interested in the instrument on a church camping trip. One camper brought a guitar along, and Tom spent more time playing around with the guitar than he did with the camping activities. Tom got his first guitar from a local friend who worked at a dump. Someone had thrown away a perfectly usable guitar. So, Tom's friend gave it to him. Tom discovered punk on a holiday in Oregon, when he went to visit a friend. This friend was heavily into punk, and introduced Tom to bands such as Stiff Little Fingers, Dinosaur Jr., and The Descendents. Despite having previously thought punk was nothing but fast noise, Tom feel in love with the sounds he heard.
The next link in the chain was an older man named Markus Allan Hoppus. Mark came from a well-off family. And his father worked as a high tech weapons engineer for the U.S. navy. Mark was born in California, but his father's work took the family to various places in the U.S., rarely staying anywhere for more than two years. Mark said the constant moving was the only consistent feature of his childhood. His parents divorced when he was 14, and Mark went to live with his father, Tex, in Washington D.C. When Mark was 16, he returned to California, and settled in the town of Ridgecrest near San Diego. The move back to California wasn't hard since Mark already discovered the joys of the south Californian punk scene. His favorite band was The Descendents, and proved to be a great influence on Blink 182 in later years. Mark's musical development began when he was 14. In return for his help painting a house, Tex's helpers bought Mark a bass guitar and an amp. Before long, Mark began teaching himself to play simple tunes, working out the bass lines of the Descendents songs first. Eventually he would go into more complicated material such as The Cure, or The Replacements. Like Tom, he was also a keen skateboarder. By coincidence, Tom was one of the first people that Mark met on his arrival in the new town. Mark had vague ambitions to become a high school English teacher. So he enrolled at a local college. By chance, Mark's sister's friend was dating Tom. He was informed that Mark was into punk and that he played bass. The first thing Mark did when he went over Tom's house, was climb a light poll outside of Tom's house. He fell and walked with crutches for weeks. A couple of garage rehearsals made them even more ambitious. Before long, Mark and Tom were writing their own simple tunes, and performing for whomever would listen.
It soon became clear that two people weren't enough. Mark and Tom sounded good, but they didn't sound like the punk bands the loved. They would need a drummer before they could really get going. Fortunately, Tom knew a kid at school who played the drums. So they tracked him down and asked him to try out for the band. Scott Raynor was 14 and a big heavy metal fan. For Scott and his friends, Metallica was the best band in the world. Inspired by Lars Ulrich's forceful drumming, Scott bought himself a cheap drum kit and paid for a few lessons. Before long, he developed a respectable ability, and began searching around for fellow musicians. Scott was more into metal than punk, although he did like Green Day. But most of all...he had his own drum kit. So at least Scott was familiar with punk rock. Mark and Tom wanted to get away from the area heavy metal. Scott was willing, so Blink was now a three piece. The three weren't dreaming of fame and riches just yet. For now it was just enough to play in public, the money would come later. But gigs had to be booked. It was soon decided that the band should try to play at local high schools. All the teens loved punk music, so it seemed like ideal venues. There was only one problem. If the band described their material to any head master of principal, there'd be no chance they'd be allowed within a mile of the school. However, Mark suggested that they claimed to be a firmly anti-drug band, and that they just wanted to spread their message to all the kids out there. They'd play in assembly halls, lunch breaks and in gyms. What the teacher thought when they ripped through songs like "Does my Breath Smell?" and "Ben Wah Balls" is unrecorded, but Blink wasn't asked to come back for another performance. Whatever the audience may have thought about them, Blink had achieved their aim. And it wouldn't be the last time they would distort the truth to their own advantage.
Before too much time had passed they became affiliated with local clubs that played for all ages. Their music spread and the ears of the local skate scene seemed to enjoy it especially. As with many bands, their music was heard by a generous band called The Vandals. This led to a deal with Grilled cheese music. They were asked to produce a demo tape. The concoctions that resulted were Flyswatter and Buddha. Sensing the next Green Day like band, they were signed. In 1994, Cheshire Cat was released into the world with the name "BLINK" on the front. This produced a new problem. Apparently an Irish techno band named Blink was willing to sue. So they added a random number, 182. Cheshire cat was reissued with the new 182 and Blink started touring to promote their new album. A base group of true fans was now developing. They toured in a crappy van for months with groups such as NOFX, Pennywise, and even their idols The Descendents. This got the attention of bigger companies. Cargo Music and MCA records contacted them. Blink's next release was Dude Ranch, which has since reached Gold status.
On the tour to promote Dude Ranch, Scott often left to go home. Friend and drummer to the Aquabats, Travis Barker was often asked to fill in for him. He would learn Scott's pieces in less than an hour and usually play them better. So, when Scott left in 1998 to go back to school Travis was the ideal replacement. They were now asked to do a third album. They crapped out Enema of the State in June of 1999, their most successful album to date.
Over the years they spent a lot of time touring in the surf/skate/punk scene, with bands such as NOFX, Pennywise, Less than Jake. They were involved with many popular tours such as the Snow Core & Vans Warped Tours. Many of their singles are on punk compilations, movie sound tracks, and in commercials. Everyone loves their music! Enema has gone multiple platinum in the US, and with the increased interest in the band Dude Ranch has as well (Dude Ranch having previously been Gold in the US and double platinum in Australia). The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show has reached Gold status in a large number of foreign countries.
Take Off Your Pants And Jacket has also been released, both in a limited digipack and a normal cd release. It sold close to 350.000 copies in it's first week in the US, and debuted in the Billboard nr. 1 spot!
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