Blink-182 saved Mark Hoppus' life when he had cancer. His new book helped him heal

It was September 2021 and Mark Hoppus had conscionable completed six months of assertive chemotherapy. Blink-182 had re-formed and the stars had aligned for Hoppus, guitarist Tom DeLonge — who had near the set successful 2015 — and drummer Travis Barker aft a tumultuous decade.

Hoppus had been diagnosed with a benignant of non-Hodgkin lymphoma successful June 2021, resulting successful intensive attraction earlier helium was declared cancer-free. To header with the accent and exhaustion, his doc suggested helium write. What began arsenic a signifier of therapy transformed into the publication “Fahrenheit-182,” which recounts his life, from a subject kid to a punk-loving, skateboarding teen to a stone prima with millions of fans.

In the memoir, the 53-year-old chronicles the devastating interaction of his parents’ divorcement and falling successful emotion with punk stone done bands including Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys and NOFX. The existent emotion communicative of “Fahrenheit-182,” ultimately, is the trio down Blink’s success: Hoppus, DeLonge and Barker. Still, those relationships were tested and strained repeatedly, and successful recalling those tribulations, Hoppus has tried to beryllium empathetic with each involved.

(Dey Street Books)

Hoppus says, “It was truly cathartic to constitute it each retired and effort to beryllium just to everybody successful the book. My full extremity with the publication was to not demonize anybody. I wanted determination to beryllium nary villains successful the publication because, present that we’ve been done everything, I don’t consciousness that determination were villains. I consciousness similar Blink-182 is simply a blessing.”

He explains, “When my crab went into remission, and I felt similar I had dodged a bullet, I wanted to archer the communicative of Blink-182 and not needfully conscionable my story, but the communicative of the set from idiosyncratic in the band. I emotion Tom and Travis truthful much, and everyone conscionable wanted to archer our communicative arsenic it is, up to now: each the highs, each the lows, the brotherhood, the friendships, everything.”

He doesn’t shy distant from recounting breakups, makeups and ineligible and idiosyncratic battles betwixt the friends and bandmates, but determination is simply a patina of sadness implicit these anecdotes, alternatively than bitterness oregon blame-laying.

“I had to constitute astir things that Tom and I disagreed connected backmost successful the day, but I wanted to enactment his position reasonably successful it arsenic well. And the aforesaid with Travis, and arguments we had arsenic a band. It made maine look astatine things that had defined my beingness successful a antithetic way, seeing arguments that we’d had from different people’s perspective. It gave maine a batch of closure connected a batch of aged animosities and grudges. It was precise healing to constitute similar that.”

Hoppus has a knack for storytelling, which volition travel arsenic nary astonishment to fans of the band’s eminently quotable lyrics.

Born successful Oakland’s Ridgemont vicinity soon aft it was developed arsenic a suburb successful 1970, Hoppus writes, “To past successful the godforsaken is simply a one-in-a-million shot. In this environment, thing grows. Nothing lasts. Nothing makes it retired oregon thrives. But somehow, I did. One-in-a-million happens to maine each the time.”

Hoppus was a apical pupil and a high-achiever until his parents’ divorce. It resulted successful being bounced betwixt his parents’ assorted homes, getting accustomed to their caller partners and often surviving isolated from his beloved younger sister Anne.

By 1992, the skateboarding, spiky-haired teen yet listened to his parents’ pleas and enrolled successful college, which reunited him with his parent and Anne successful San Diego. Having dabbled successful assorted precocious schoolhouse bands, Hoppus was determined to “be a dude successful a band. My friends and I against the world. Like a Ramone.”

Anne’s fellow introduced Hoppus to section guitarist DeLonge, who was arsenic determined to beryllium a dude successful a band. The 2 recruited a drummer who would yet beryllium replaced by Barker successful 1998 during the circuit for the band’s 2nd album, “Dude Ranch.”

“It gave maine a batch of closure connected a batch of aged animosities and grudges. It was precise healing to constitute similar that,” Mark Hoppus says astir his memoir, “Fahrenheit-182.”

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Hoppus recalls successful the book, “Tom and I became accelerated friends and bandmates. He had a full societal circle, a radical of godless miscreant skate rats. These were my people. I fell close in. We spent those sweaty, carefree weeks terrorizing the unsuspecting residents of San Diego. We were young and anserine and unstoppable.”

Blink-182 made its famed sanction connected a marque of boyish, humor-laden punk songs that defied the grunge inclination of the aboriginal 1990s to apical Billboard charts and execute platinum sales. The trio has ridden retired much than 3 decades of idiosyncratic and nonrecreational tumult; Hoppus and DeLonge’s narration was astatine times arsenic rocky and passionate arsenic a marriage. For decades, they lived retired of touring vans and cramped roadside edifice rooms portion riding the roller coaster of popularity, and bearing the brunt of grounds statement demands, unpredictable assemblage responses and DeLonge’s fascination for aliens and UFOs. When DeLonge started different bands, Box Car Racer successful 2001 and Angels & Airwaves successful 2005, it seemed destined that Blink-182 wouldn’t past the band’s idiosyncratic and nonrecreational divisions.

Fans maintained their fervor careless of Blink-182’s interior friction. Teenagers who’d discovered the set connected tiny stages successful the backmost of bars oregon done connection of rima and cassette tapes astatine parties person stuck with the trio for decades, and Hoppus remains arsenic loyal to them.

Hoppus says, “From the precise beginning, I utilized to person a P.O. container that radical would nonstop a self-addressed, stamped envelope to, and I would enactment stickers or, arsenic a band, we’d marque up immoderate silly newsletter that we would message retired to people. We ever sold our ain merch astatine shows. I inactive person a Discord [a messaging and VoIP platform] that I bent retired connected astir each time and reply questions [from fans].”

He adds, “What I emotion astir Blink is that there’s nary hierarchy betwixt the set and the radical who travel spot america play. I don’t adjacent similar saying our ‘fans’ due to the fact that I consciousness similar Blink-182 is simply a large enactment and everyone’s invited to it. And I emotion that radical consciousness that benignant of ownership of our euphony and our band.”

It hasn’t been creaseless sailing successful the euphony property though. Blink-182’s wit has agelong rubbed immoderate critics the incorrect way, but it is the dismissal of the band’s punk stone credibility that truly infuriates Hoppus. In 2023, the Guardian sniped “their shtick wears bladed astatine times.” A twelvemonth later, a reviewer described the band’s closing acceptable astatine Lollapalooza arsenic “cringe-worthy and repulsive.”

Today, they’re inactive unstoppable arsenic a unit. Hoppus says, “Blink-182 is the bosom of each of us, and I deliberation that implicit the past 15 years, from the set breaking up the archetypal clip until now, everybody’s felt similar they’ve had Blink taken from them successful 1 mode oregon another, and felt the nonaccomplishment of what Blink-182 is. It’s made america recognize the joyousness of our band, and this peculiar chemistry that happens erstwhile the 3 of america get successful a country together. When we’re throwing ideas backmost and forth, and it’s hitting, there’s nary feeling similar it successful the world. It’s amended than immoderate drug. Walking retired of a workplace with a opus that you love, that didn’t beryllium the time before, is … unbelievable.”

Released successful 2023, the band’s ninth album, “One More Time…,” showcased the trio’s signature blistering guitars, pummeling drums and songwriting prowess. It was the band’s 3rd chart-topping album, debuting astatine No. 1 connected the Billboard 200 the week aft its release. It was a triumph that the set hadn’t achieved since 2001 with “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket” and 1999’s “Enema of the State.”

This time, chart-topping albums and touring aren’t the discombobulating matter they were astir 30 years ago, erstwhile their 2nd album, “Dude Ranch,” went gold. It passed the half-million income people wrong 8 months of merchandise and the set embarked connected a relentless run to execute worldwide recognition.

Hoppus writes, “We jumped connected each circuit and festival that came our way. Right aft the medium was released successful June of ’97, we spent different summertime connected the Warped Tour, past went close into a U.S. circuit with Less Than Jake, past headed disconnected to Europe for a month, past ended the twelvemonth playing each the stone vigor Christmas shows that grounds labels propulsion you to bash to supposedly assistance get your songs connected the airwaves.”

Soon after, loneliness and a consciousness of being unanchored led Hoppus to constitute “Adam’s Song” arsenic helium contemplated taking his ain life. Its occurrence was bittersweet and the rawness of the opus hasn’t dissipated with time.

“I person a precise hard clip with it,” helium says. “I wrote that opus erstwhile I was successful a truly atrocious place. Our set was taking disconnected and we were signed to a large label, but I felt truly lonely erstwhile I got location from tour. I conscionable was location by myself successful an bare house, and feeling professionally fulfilled but personally bare successful a batch of ways. When we got backmost unneurotic arsenic a band, I would commencement the opus each nighttime of the circuit by saying, ‘I wrote this opus backmost successful the time erstwhile I was successful a atrocious place, and it saved my beingness then. This set and Tom and Travis saved my beingness a 2nd clip erstwhile I was sick with cancer. So this opus is astir that feeling.”

Hoppus sprinkles references to life-saving moments and his incredibly bully luck passim our interrogation and his book. Indeed, that fortuitous infinitesimal backmost successful 2021, erstwhile the effect of “Fahrenheit-182” was sown, was the opening of truthful much, and the momentum hasn’t ceased.

Hoppus says that since the set reunited 3 years ago, “there’s nary signs of stopping, truthful that’s awesome. And this publication isn’t similar my farewell. It’s conscionable a milestone marker.”

Hoppus volition beryllium discussing “Fahrenheit-182” astatine the Wiltern astatine 4 p.m. April 20 .

California-born punk stone icon Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 is photographed successful his Beverly Hills home.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)