Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus says it was a "relief" when Tom DeLonge quit the band.
The 44-year-old bassist-and-vocalist was left "angry" and "disappointed" when his bandmate of 23 years decided to leave in March 2015, to pursue other projects, but admitted he could see it coming as he’d been unhappy performing live with the group for a long time.
Asked how he felt when the Angels and Airwaves frontman left, he said: "It was a relief when Tom decided he didn’t want to be in the band.
"It had been obvious for years he wasn’t happy in Blink.
"For years we’d always said — well, at least Travis (Barker) and I had — Blink is our main priority. We all do other things but Blink comes first.
"We had planned to do new recordings for months but days before we were to start, Tom’s manager emailed us and said he wasn’t interested. He was out."
What annoyed Mark most about Tom in the end, was the fact that himself and drummer Travis Barker always made the pop punk band their "main priority", but the 40-year-old rocker – who fronts Angel and Airwaves and spends his time searching for UFOs – didn’t make Blink come first.
Mark told The Sun newspaper: "Of course we were disappointed and angry but then, after a while, it made sense because he just wasn’t happy doing it."
And in hindsight, the ‘Bored To Death’ hitmaker’s drummer, Travis Barker, says having new guitarist and co-vocalist Matt Skiba – of Alkaline Trio – has given the trio a new lease of life.
He added: "There’s a new energy in the band."
Meanwhile, Mark recently said he hadn’t even considered having Tom back in the group.
He previously told BANG Showbiz: "I can’t answer that question because I hadn’t even thought about."
Mark Hoppus: It was a relief when Tom left Blink-182
