Since Blink 182’s sudden break-up on their 2005 world tour, talks of a reunion have been doubtful. After going separate ways almost four years ago, all members have been busy pursuing independent projects and raising families. Most eager to be free from the restraints of Blink 182, guitarist Tom Delong formed his own band Angels & Airwaves in May 2006. Six months later, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker debuted their own music project +44.
While both bands have had moderate success, neither has reached the worldwide popularity of Blink-182. Though the band claims no hard feelings, Tom had not spoken to his ex-band mates since the break-up. Yet, in September of 2008, past hard-ships were set aside when Travis Barker was hospitalized with second and third degree burns from a near fatal plane crash.
The tragedy has got the band talking again. In a recent blog post, Mark Hoppus fills in fans on the conversation, stating,
“In the midst of everything else that has happened lately, Tom, Travis, and I have all spoken together. First through a number of phone calls, and then a couple of weeks ago we all hung out for a few hours. They’ve all been great, very positive conversations. We’re just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking. It’s a good thing. Obviously the first question for a lot of people will be “does this mean a blink-182 reunion?” The answer is none of us know. We haven’t talked about it at all. Right now it’s just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect, and let the past be the past. The events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. Life is too short.”
Clearly, things have been brought back into perspective for these old friends. And the time for a reunion is perfect; Angels & Airwaves just finished up their North American tour with Weezer and have nothing on the schedule, also Travis and Mark have been very excited to get back in the studio since the plane crash. Mark even says, “I’ve been writing a bunch of stuff and getting a lot of songs together.” Though it hard to say what will happen, the good reasons for a reunion far outweigh any bad. From the millions of dollars to be made to the simple fact that fans miss their favorite band, it seem the hope for a reunion are increasingly optimistic.