Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir

by Mark Hoppus

one of our songs comes on the radio, I always have a “fuck yeah” moment. I haven’t lost that excitement and I hope I never do.

I’d also recently read an article that I couldn’t get out of my head. It was about a student who died by suicide and left a note for his parents. It got me thinking about my mom, and how she would react to the news that I was dead. I imagined where and how I might commit the act so no one would find me. I thought of all my memories lost to time, like the time that I spilled the cup of apple juice in the hall.

I’ve seen “tomorrow holds such better days” tattooed on countless limbs. To this day fans come up to tell me the song saved their lives. Thank you, it saved mine, too.

I’d written the song “Josie” years prior about a woman like Skye. A woman so smart and independent she doesn’t need me quite half as much as I need her. When I wrote it, it wasn’t about anyone in particular. I was just imagining the perfect woman. My dream girl. So, when I met Skye it felt like I’d written her into existence. Like I’d found my Josie.

But even weirder than that is that everything Skye and I told the old guy at the bar ended up coming true. On Valentine’s Day in 2000 I proposed to her and by December we were married. We ended up having one kid, a boy. And we own a nice home where we’re very happy.

we’re still in love, just like ...

It took years of hard work, but I finally won my dad over that day. Thank you, Richard Simmons.

We wrote a dark goth song called “All of This” and Tom said, “You know who’d be awesome on this song? Robert Smith from The Cure.” As always, when Tom gets an idea in his head, he makes it happen. He reached out and, as luck had it, Robert’s nieces and nephews were huge blink fans and encouraged him to contribute vocals to the track, making teenage Mark’s wildest dreams come true.

We spent our last day at a studio in the Capitol Records building, mixing the opening track, “Feeling This.” We had to get this one just right. To me, it showcased everyone at their absolute best. If aliens ever came down from outer space and asked what blink-182 sounds like, I’d play them that song.

We started a new band in his basement. We called it +44, the international calling code for dialing the U.K.

The reason I remembered that story was because the name of the kid getting chewed out was Pete Wentz, and the name of his band was Fall Out Boy, who was now headlining over +44. He was the star now, and I the support. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I suddenly sympathized with Green Day.

Travis stepped up to the mic and delivered the news: “We used to play music together,” he said timidly, “and we decided we’re gonna play music together again.” “blink-182 is back!” I added, hoping to put an exclamation point on

It was then I started to fully understand the greater importance of blink, that it was bigger than the three of us. The band had been around for more than twenty years. People had grown up with us. Lost their virginity to our music. Hung our posters on their bedroom walls. They had kids of their own and introduced our music to them. We were transcending into something more than a band. blink was an idea. And we couldn’t let that idea die.

Nearly twenty-five years into our career, though, the way the industry saw us had changed. In the beginning, the old guard of tastemakers hated us. We were the class clowns, the naked band. But by 2016, younger acts like Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and even some hip-hop artists were citing us as an influence. A new generation of gatekeepers—music journalists, TV producers, Grammy voters—grew up with blink and were in charge now. Somewhere along the way we’d become the elder statesmen.

The nurse today was a fan. She couldn’t have been kinder and more professional. But she made a joke when asking my date of birth. She said she missed the chance to say, “What’s your age again?”

asked my oncologist what comes next and what I was supposed to do now. He said, “Now you go live the rest of your life, Mark.”

Hi, my name is Mark Hoppus and I don’t have cancer anymore.

appreciate what I have on a deeper level now. I have a wife and son who I love, and I get to play my bass for a living. I’m able to find more joy in all the small things.

knew I had to call Matt. I was nervous to break the news, but he couldn’t have been classier about it. “Man, I’m a huge fan of the band and I was so honored to have a place in its history,” he said. “I wish you guys nothing but the best.”

In a way, I think Matt knew this day would come. blink-182 will always be Mark, Tom, and Travis. Maybe I knew it, too, even when I didn’t.