Blink-182 Taking "Hiatus"

San Diego pop-punk trio Blink-182 have decided to take "an indefinite hiatus," a spokesperson for their label, Geffen, announced today. The desire to focus on their personal lives was cited as the main incentive for the break.

"For over a decade, Blink-182 [have] toured, recorded and promoted non-stop, all while trying to balance relationships with family and friends," the statement continues. This break will allow the band members "to spend some time enjoying the fruits of their labors with loved ones."

Blink-182 -- frontman-guitarist Tom Delonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor -- formed in 1993, with instant appeal to the skateboarding/surfing set. The band raised their profile in the mid-Nineties through their Warped Tour sets, finally releasing their major-label debut, Enema of the State, in 1999. (At this point, Travis Barker replaced Raynor on drums.) Enema, their fourth LP, went on to sell four million copies, and the band became known for as much for their sound, as for their irreverent sense of humor. The video for 1999's "What's My Age Again" infamously featured the trio running through the Hollywood streets naked, and that same year the band wickedly parodied the Backstreet Boys in the clip for "All the Small Things."

Blink-182's spokesperson added that "there is no set plan for the band to begin working together again."

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Song Stories

“Satisfied”

Tom Waits | 2011

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.

More Song Stories entries »

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