http://my.hsj.org/Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_uuuvio552by3a345wreq40yj_249f6a85-65b7-489f-b770-0ee9f7219f51_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:19:05 GMT 15 By Zoe Owrutsky
If you had watched the Grammy awards this year, you would know that the answer to the question above is most emphatically, "yes!" That Southern California 90’s pop punk group we all knew and loved, also known as blink-182, has a made it apparent that they are back after a 4-year "indefinite hiatus," as the group called it back in early 2005. Immediately after their first public appearance since the split, vocalist and front man Tom Delonge went on to say, "To put it simply, we’re back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album." Paint Branch sophomore Kristin DeFinis shares her feelings about the band’s reunion, "I think the reunion was very unexpected and that’s what they [blink-182] wanted. Many people have waited for this for so long, and I think at this point it brings back what music is meant to be." Original band members Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Scott Raynor all met through mutual friends at their local high school in Poway, California in the early ‘90s. However, blink’s drummer, Raynor, didn’t stick around long enough to enjoy the fame and fortune the band would soon see. He was asked to leave the band by the other members midway through a United States tour in 1998 due to a rumored drinking problem. Mark and Tom had to find themselves a new drummer, and fast. Travis Barker, a drummer who was playing percussion for a band known as "The Aquabats" filled in for Raynor for the duration of the tour. However, after the tour ended blink-182 offered him the position to drum, and he left his current band within hours. What started out as a couple of high school kids playing cheap guitars in the garage of 16-year-old Delonge’s parents’ house soon turned into what none of them could have ever predicted – full-blown, rock-star status. Their biggest hit album, Enema of the State, which was released in 1999, sold over 15 million copies. Popular hit singles and music videos like "All the Small Things", "What’s my Age Again?" and "Adam’s Song" blew up the radio stations and got nearly unlimited airtime on MTV, launching the band into the mainstream. With all of this seemingly overnight success, what could possibly go wrong? On the morning of February 22, 2005, Barker and Hoppus received a call from their manager telling them that Delonge had quit the band because he wanted to spend more time with his family after all the touring the band had been doing. According to Hoppus and Barker, the call from their best friend caught them completely off guard. They knew Delonge had expressed feelings of wanting to go home, but never thought it would come to this. So, the boys told their fans they were taking an "indefinite hiatus," cancelled the upcoming tour, and went their separate ways. Hoppus and Barker created a new band known as (+44) with two other members. Delonge soon did the same with three others creating a band of his own called Angels and Airwaves (also known as AVA). AVA went on to create two albums titled We Don’t Need to Whisper and I-Empire. The ex-members of blink kept extremely quiet for many months after the split, despite the public’s extreme interest in whether or not they all stayed friends and if there was any possibility of a reunion. In October of 2005, Delonge was the first to break the silence about what really went down in a MTV interview. He confessed, "They were my best friends in the world, and I miss them tremendously." And further explained the main reason for the ‘indefinite hiatus’ was because "at the end, our priorities were mad different, and I haven’t spoken to them since [the hiatus]." But after Travis Barker got in a nearly fatal plane accident in November of 2008, Mark Hoppus announced on his Official Blog that the three were all friends again and a Blink reunion might be on the horizon. This notion was confirmed on February 8, 2009 at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards when the band came onstage to present an award. Standing in the middle of the recently reunited Blink, Barker leaned into the microphone (left arm still in a sling) and said, "We used to play music together, and we decided to play music together once again." So, there you have it folks. Blink-182 is back (for good this time, hopefully). The band closed with one final statement saying, "Summer 2009. Thanks and get ready…" What that means exactly? No one is quite sure, but be prepared for a new album, and maybe even a summer tour. ]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:06:53 GMT