Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus reveals how cancer diagnosis reunited him with Tom DeLonge
Blink-182 singer Mark Hoppus has revealed how his cancer diagnosis in 2021 brought him and his bandmate Tom DeLonge back together after years of infighting.
Speaking to The Guardian upon the release of his memoirs, Farenheit-182, Hoppus discussed how his diagnosis of lymphoma four years ago brought his life into focus and then managed to reconcile his relationship with DeLonge, with whom he had become distant with the decline of the band.
He said: “I really thought I was going to die. And, in a way, it absolutely was so freeing. I’d spent my whole life hypervigilant, thinking: what’s the worst thing that could happen? And, ‘Oh, it’s here now, I’m dealing with it and it still sucks’.”
Hoppus added: “The physical pain and exhaustion of the chemo, mixed with the steroids and all the other drugs, just crushed me for months on end. But it brought back friendships that I hadn’t had in years.”
“It healed my friendship with Tom,” he explained, “from day one, he was like: ‘What do you need? I’m there.’ In that friendship and the love and support of people around me, I thought: you know what? I’ve had a pretty awesome life.”
Subsequently, owing to their reconciliation, DeLonge rejoined the pop-punk trio in 2022, and followed it up the next year with the release of their album One More Time.
That record breathed a new lease of life back into Blink-182 by returning to their original sound and energy, from which they are continuing to build.
Hoppus’ memoir, Fahrenheit-182, was released on April 8th, 2025.
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