Blink-182 announced their new single, ‘One More Time,’ from their upcoming album with a short video on their YouTube, where Tom DeLonge reflected on his personal awakening following Mark Hoppus’ health struggles.
Referring to his 2015 departure from the band, the guitarist said:
“I felt myself in these weird oceans that I didn’t know how to navigate. I definitely didn’t want to hold these guys back in any kind of way.”
Hoppus stepped in and stated:
“We are like, ‘F*ck Tom DeLonge. If he doesn’t like playing, then f*ck it.'”
DeLonge continued, describing his mindset at the time:
“I remember telling my wife, ‘I don’t think I’m going to play music again. I don’t think I’m ever going to tour again,’ until Mark told me he was sick. And then I was like, ‘That’s the only thing I wanna do.'”
Mark then added, opening up about his battle with cancer:
“When I thought I got sick, I was really sh*tty, weak. With the chemotherapy and pain and everything else, just a hollow shallow…”
Tom noted:
“When he told me he was sick, that was like nothing matters.”
The band’s drummer, Travis Barker, also shared his thoughts on what they have been through as a band and how they inspired their new track:
“On the album, ‘One More Time’ is written about ‘why does it take these catastrophes like me being in a plane crash or Mark being sick for our band to get back together.’ I always knew that the brotherhood wouldn’t ever deteriorate or it wouldn’t be there. I really feel like Blink is us three, and as soon as we accept that and don’t set off for anything less than that, I just think that’s the future.”
A few months into his treatment, Hoppus revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in June 2021. As of September, the rocker shared that he had been declared free of cancer, but he would still undergo screenings every six months as a precaution against a potential recurrence.
You can see the video below.
