Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 announces cancer battle

"For the past three months I've been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer," posted 49 year-old Blink 182 frontman Mark Hoppus online on Wednesday, June 23.

"It sucks and I'm scared, and at the same time I'm blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this...I still have months of treatment ahead of me but I'm trying to remain hopeful and positive."

Blink-182 was originally formed in Poway circa 1992 by singer-bassist Hoppus with Tom DeLonge (vocals and guitar) and Scott Raynor (drums). Originally, the band's official name was "Blink." However, the numerical three-digit suffix was appended early in their career following an objection from an Irish band with the same name. Travis Barker replaced Raynor on drums in 1998, midway through a U.S. tour.

The lineup had shifted again when they played Soma on March 20, 2015, with Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba taking over for Tom Delonge for a show in San Diego and two days later at the Musink Tattoo & Music Festival in Costa Mesa.

The band invited fans quarantined at home to contribute footage shot during the pandemic shutdown for their "Happy Days" video, which debuted online in April 2020 and featured people washing hands, wearing masks, and doing all the things that have become the new normal. The trio released a new single in August 2020 called "Quarantine."

In early 2021, Travis Barker told the Rock This podcast that the next Blink album is "60 percent done...there's like a song with Grimes right now that's really, really cool that I love. There's a song with Uzi that's really, really cool that we did with Pharrell. I mean, it's not like Blink's making a rap song or anything. It's like bringing Uzi over to our world. So it's more of a punk kind of like reggae feeling song."

"I don't think Blink will ever be anything but a pop-punk band. I mean, that's who we are."