Blink 182 Biography

blink-182 (pronounced "blink one eighty-two") was a pop punk band from San Diego, California, U.S. formed in 1992 by Mark Hoppus (vocals and bass), Tom DeLonge (vocals and guitar), and Scott Raynor (drums) in the northern San Diego suburb of Poway. Travis Barker replaced Raynor on drums in 1998, midway through blink-182's US tour. The group went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2005. In 2006, Mark Hoppus & Travis Barker conducted an interview with MTV and confirmed that the group is officially broken up.

The group was known for their catchy melodies, as well as for satirical, and sometimes profanity-laden, toilet humor. Musically, the band played up-tempo songs with prominent major-chord harmonies, often digitally mixed, to provide a much cleaner sound than typical punk/rock recordings, which generally exhibit distortion and analogue mixes to achieve the opposite effect. However, their last album showed a significant departure from their previous works and helped exhibit their more mature musical prowess while showcasing some advancement in the sophistication of their lyrical themes. The lyrical content of their songs, prior to their last album, was usually humorous and light hearted. blink-182 fans were predominantly teenagers; however, they managed to establish a more mature following with their latest offering.

Although the band is labeled as Blink 182 on albums prior to Raynor's departure, the official rendering of the band's name is blink-182. The numbers 182 were added to the band's name to prevent a trademark conflict with the Irish pop group Blink. However, fans frequently refer to the band informally as 'Blink'.