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Blink-182 is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. The band currently consists of founding bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker, and guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba. The band emerged from the Southern California punk scene of the early 90s and gained notoriety for their high-energy live shows and irreverent lyrical toilet humor.

A Story Of How The Band Started

The three San Diego natives that make up the original lineup of Blink Mark Hoppus, bass/vocals; Tom Delonge, guitar/vocals; and Scott Raynor, drums. 

In 1992 Scott and  his friend Paul Scott, decided to make a metal band, later that year Scott met tom at a school party and  found out he played guitar and soon they were all  playing together. When Paul Scott had to move they went looking for a replacement for the band And happened upon mark when Tom started dating his sister Anne. These disturbed kids recognized in one another the same love for songs involving girls, friends and chronic diarrhea.

Happy to just play they were know as "El Cuatro and the Cajones," a mariachi band available for weddings, birthdays etc.,  After  a long boring year they put aside their sombreros and plugged in their amps, and set out hoping to spread a positive attitude and a fondness for toilet humor throughout California.

They picked a somewhat better name Blink and toured different high schools pretending to preach about staying in school and off of drugs. When the teachers heard their potty mouth songs they were shocked, believe it or not Blink was never asked to return. (Though I can't see why. He He...) Their evolution to Blink was a good idea. They toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia with such bands as Pennywise, NOFX and Rancid just to name a few.

Just as the band was getting into their groove and people were interested. They were asked to change their name by an Irish techno band already named Blink, and their managers came to an agreement on the matter. (In a sense they were forced to change their name or risk legal troubles) So they became known as *Blink-182* one of the worlds best alternative bands around .

And adding the 182 to their name really means nothing, (here's what the band had to say themselves) they like to make up stuff during interviews because they like to fool around and they think its funny. Anyway here are the rumors I have heard.

~They were jamming in a friends garage and noticed the numbers 182 on a poster showing an old war plane.

~Mark's ideal weight.

~182 stands for the number of times Mark masturbated over the paused image of Princess Leia in the pink bikini!

~Many, many years ago Mark's grandfather was in the Navy, and they were attacked, and their ship crashed They were all thrown over board. They then got into to separate lifesaver boats, only one returned none of the others did! So Mark's gramps and the other survivors graced themselves lucky and decided to tattoo the number of the boat on their arm, and can you guess the number? Yup u got it! (This is interesting as in the 'All the Small Things' video, Mark has a fake 182 tattooed on his arm!) 

~182 stands for the number of times Al Pachino says "F$%k" and other swear words in the movie, Scarface!

~It was nicked from the movie Turk 182

Scott Raynor Having performed for  *Blink-182* as the drummer for Flyswatter, Buddha, Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch was much liked. Sadly Scott left the band after the release of Dude Ranch in 1997.

Here are some reasons- To go back to college and gain his degrees.

Him and mark disagreed a lot.

Mark and Tom thought they should be going on to better things. 

Here's what Mark and Tom Say: They along with Rick (manager), gave him an ultimatum to quit drinking and go into rehab. He didn't think he needed to go to rehab so he asked for the weekend to think about it, and they agreed. Next thing you know he went out and got drunk. After that he realized that he had a problem that needed to be handled, he finally told them he would go to rehab but they said they didn't trust him and were going to cut him. He then asked if there was anything he could do to keep in the band and they said NO!. 

Scott said that he wanted different things then Mark and Tom did at the time, that he's always preferred doing things themselves and having everything be about the music. At the time Scott wanted to go with Epitaph and not the major label, he didn't want what they were doing to become commercial and business like, as he just enjoyed making awesome music and sharing it with people. In 96 just after signing with MCA the group threw a celebratory party, and being so overwhelmed with what all was happening Scott got sandblasted and took a dive off the hotel balcony. (he broke both heels/ankles)

Since everyone was no longer seeing eye to eye, the guys used that incident as an excuse (so to speak) to get rid of Scott. They claimed he was always out of it, no longer interested, and never was around anymore. Only showing up a few minutes prior to a gig and then leaving right after.  

Anyways, needing a replacement drummer, a fellow rocker and Auquabats member who had filled in for Scott before, Travis Barker was asked to joined the band. They picked Travis because he was able to learn the routines in such a short time, hey they even thought he played a little better than Scott. (Which we all know is not true. Scott is way better and does not feel the need to show off so much. Plus Scott's more better looking than Travis could ever be.)

*Blink-182* went on to become multi-platinum recording artist, selling over 8 million albums in the Us alone. They toured extensively throughout Europe and other parts of the world, becoming gold artist in many other countries, and selling up to 30 million albums worldwide. 

In 2005  *Blink-182* went on hiatus, siting "it's to spend some time enjoying the fruits of their labors with loved ones." Really they just argued a lot because Tom was conflicted about his creative freedom within the group, and the touring was beginning to take a toll on his family life. He eventually expressed his desire to take a half-year respite from touring in order to spend more time with his wife and kids. A breakdown in communication led to heated exchanges, resulting in Toms exit from the group.

Tom went on to work with his band called Angels & Airwaves, and Mark and Travis went and Started a band called +44. 

In 2008 after nearly 4 years of no connection or communication between the guys, the band began to talk about getting back together. It was a fiery plane crash that almost took the life of Travis, that brought the guys back together and got them talking about making music again. It took them over a year, but they eventually started playing shows again, and in 2009 started on a new album.

And that's the band so well known today MARK, TOM, and TRAVIS as *Blink-182*!!!

So there you have it a short (well kind of) little rendition of *Blink-182*s Story As told by me The crazy Web Host.

*Update

In early 2015 a statement released by the band's publicist, read "Tom DeLonge, co-founder of  *Blink-182* has left the band ‘indefinitely.’ Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus plan to honor all  *Blink-182* commitments including the Musink Festival and are excited to have singer/guitarist Matt Skiba join them for this project."

Mark and Travis had this to say: “We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go into the studio we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any  *Blink-182* projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavors.”

Tom claimed this: “I never quit the band,” calling the press release and their comments “weird” and questioning the legitimacy.

So the guys were saying Tom left and quit the band, and Tom was saying that he didn't quit. Who’s right?  Well tom's a douche, and the other guys have now parted ways with him, but plan to continue with  *Blink-182*. 

After playing a show with Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba in march, Mark and Travis were in talks with him about writing music with them.

Matt said: “I think that’s a great idea and it’s something we have discussed, it’s something I would be very excited to do and I’ve known the Blink guys for about 15 years and we’ve become good friends. Playing songs I haven’t written with Mark and Travis is a blast, so to go in and create music with them would be amazing.”

In July of this year,  *Blink-182* released a statement saying the threesome, with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba replacing guitarist Tom DeLonge, will head back into the studio in August to record new music. (Yay!)