Blink-182 Reunion to Play Las Vegas Festival on World Tour

Blink-182, one of the all-time most beloved pop-punk bands, announced on Tuesday that its most successful lineup has reunited. Drummer Travis Barker, bassist Mark Hoppus, and singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge – the cofounder who left the group in 2015 and was subsequently replaced – are recording a new album and will launch a massive world tour next spring.

Running from March 11, 2023 through Feb. 26, 2024, the tour will include the “When We Were Young” festival on Oct. 21, 2023 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. Its bill will include Green Day, 30 Seconds To Mars, The Offspring, and Good Charlotte.

Tickets for the festival and the rest of Blink-182’s tour go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17 via Ticketmaster and blnk182.com. A Live Nation presale  is set for 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 13th (use access code PUMPKIN). No information on ticket prices was released.

Blink-182 also announced that a new song, called “Edging,” will be released this Friday, Oct. 14.

All the Big Things

Blink-182 was founded in 1992 by DeLonge and Hoppus in their hometown of San Diego. Original drummer Scott Raynor was replaced in 1998 by Barker. This formed the lineup that achieved superstardom via the group’s 1999 album, Enema of the State. Its hits – blasted regularly by US sporting event speakers for the last 20 years – include “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things.”

DeLonge, Hoppus, and Barker recorded three albums together before the band went on an “indefinite hiatus” in 2005, in part because of DeLonge’s reported desire to spend more time with his family. They reunited for several years after a performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards. But DeLonge again quit in 2015.

DeLonge and Hoppus reportedly repaired their relationship last year after Hoppus battled Stage 4 lymphoma. In Sept. 2021, after several rounds of chemotherapy, Hoppus declared himself “cancer-free” via his Instagram account.

Who’s the Star Again?

Blink-182’s reunion will possibly mark the beginning of a new band dynamic for the trio. Barker, a tabloid celebrity, is now its most recognizable member. The heavily tattooed drummer – who is also known as a rapper, a clothing entrepreneur, and Mr. Kourtney Kardashian – is certain to bring a new demographic to the band’s fan base.

Previously, the band’s star was DeLonge, as evidenced by the two hitless albums – 2016’s “California” and 2019’s “Nine” – that Blink-182 released with a replacement frontman, Matt Skiba of The Alkaline Trio. Skiba will not be part of the upcoming tour.