On this day (June 17) in 2016, Mic published an interview with Tom DeLonge in which he reveals his reason for leaving Blink-182. Nineteen years earlier, on June 17, 1997, the band released Dude Ranch, their major label debut album.
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Blink-182 released their debut album, Cheshire Cat, in 1995. After gaining some buzz, the band inked a deal with MCA Records and released their major label debut, Dude Ranch, in 1997. The album topped the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Additionally, Dude Ranch was notably the final album to feature original drummer Scott Raynor. The album also spawned the band’s breakthrough hit, “Dammit.” This set the stage for a string of hits that started with “What’s My Age Again” from their 1999 full-length Enema of the State.
[RELATED: 3 Blink-182 Underrated Gems That Deserve More Recognition]
The last 20 years have been interesting for Blink-182. After seeing massive success in the 1990s, the band went on its first indefinite hiatus in 2005. Tensions around differing ideas for the future and how to balance touring with family life led to the band’s members going their separate ways. The hiatus lasted until 2008 when drummer Travis Barker survived a harrowing plane crash. The near-death experience prompted the band to get back together.
The band’s reunion lasted until DeLonge left in 2015 to pursue other ventures. He spoke about those ventures in his interview with Mic.
Tom DeLonge on Leaving Blink-182 to Study UFOs
The Mic interviewer pointed out that their publication had received a press release stating that Tom DeLonge chose to skip touring with Blink-182 to focus on his To the Stars, Inc. and Sekret Machines.
“Well, it’s not so much about Blink. It’s about what I’m doing with my life now,” DeLonge said. “When you’re an individual like me, dealing with something that’s a national security issue, and you’re being gifted with the opportunity to communicate something you’ve been passionate about your whole life–something that has the opportunity to change the world over time–being a small part of that is enormously important for my life path,” he explained.
“I can’t do everything,” he added. “I can’t tour nine months out of the year with enough time to do the enormity of what I’m setting out to do.”
Some may believe that DeLonge’s interest in UFO phenomena was something new. However, in the interview, he explained that his fascination with UFOs came long before Blink-182. “I first got into it in junior high. I don’t know why, I just had some free time on my hands and I found myself at the school library looking for books on the subject matter,” he recalled. He went on to say that the early days of being on the road with the band gave him time to read more “really interesting books that changed the way I thought about stuff.”
Featured Image by K C Alfred/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
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