Blink-182 Cancel Two Upcoming Shows Due to Illness
Blink-182 have canceled their concerts in Kansas City and St. Louis “due to illness.” The band announced the news on social media last night, although they didn’t confirm who specifically was affected.
“Unfortunately, due to illness we are unable to make it to Kansas City and St. Louis,” the band wrote on X, confirming that refunds would be issued automatically to ticket holders who purchased through Ticketmaster. “We are so sorry and hope to see you next time,” they added.
Blink-182 is currently in the midst of a U.S. tour, which is now set to continue on Aug. 12 in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena. The group performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago last weekend and will head overseas later this month to headline Reading & Leeds festival in the U.K.
Rolling Stone wrote of the band’s Lollapalooza set, “How strangely heartwarming to watch Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge swap dick jokes together again — plus one very memorable jab about the Bean belonging to DeLonge’s mom. With an elevated Travis Barker drumming mid-air, Blink-182’s recently reunited classic trio put on a spectacle both nostalgic and refreshed.
Blink-182 reunited their classic lineup in 2022 and released One More Time, their first album together since DeLonge departed in 2015, last year. After DeLonge left the group in 2015, he was replaced by Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba, who appeared on two Blink albums, 2016’s California and 2019’s Nine.
Hoppus told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 last year, “I didn’t know that Blink would ever get back together or that I would ever share a stage with Tom. I told management, I told Travis, I told everybody, ‘I’m not setting foot on stage again with that dude. Not a chance.’”
That all changed in 2021 when Hoppus was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Hoppus had decided to keep the news relatively quiet, and, as it happened, DeLonge actually reached out to Hoppus before even knowing about the diagnosis. In classic Blink fashion — where horny dude humor and deep feelings collide — Hoppus recalled receiving a text from DeLonge from the set of an Angels and Airwaves music video. It was accompanied by a photo of DeLonge with “six women in their underwear and high-heels.”
“It was similar when Travis had his accident back in the day,” DeLonge said. “Nothing matters, really. Everything that’s just dumb, peripheral, it’s all petty when you have real human things happen. So, it feels like it’s an instant thing. I feel like there’s a real sense of brotherhood with us. And like any brothers, you have your little spats over the years, and you grow apart. You come back together. But you’ve always got a foundation that you’re connected.”
