UPDATE: On Facebook, Tom DeLonge posted that he "never quit" Blink-182, despite the earlier reports.
To all the fans, I never quit the band. I actually was on a phone call about a blink 182 event for New York City at the time all these weird press releases started coming in... Apparently those releases were 'sanctioned' from the band. Are we dysfunctional- yes. But, Christ..... #Awkward #BabyBackRibs
In an interview with Rolling Stone, however, band members Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus said DeLonge is "out" of the band, according to his manager. Said Barker:
It's hard to cover for someone who's disrespectful and ungrateful. You don't even have the balls to call your bandmates and tell them you're not going to record or do anything Blink-related. You have your manager do it. Everyone should know what the story is with him and it's been years with it. When we did get back together after my plane crash, we only got back together, I don't know, maybe because I almost died. But he didn't even listen to mixes or masterings from that record. He didn't even care about it. Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable.
Hoppus said he and Barker stand behind their press release "100 percent because it's all true." Read the full interview with Rolling Stone here.
EARLIER: As first reported by Radio.com, Blink-182's Tom DeLonge has "indefinitely" left the band. DeLonge has apparently made this decision in order to pursue his "other non-musical endeavors," a representative for Blink-182 said in a statement. He'll be replaced by Matt Skiba of the Alkaline Trio at the group's upcoming performance at Travis Barker's eighth annual Musink Music and Tattoo Festival. Read the full release below.
Matt Skiba of the Alkaline Trio will join Blink-182 in replacement of Tom DeLonge at the 8th annual Musink Music and Tattoo Festival. “We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavors.” Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus plan to honor all Blink-182 commitments including the Musink Festival and are excited to have singer/guitarist Matt Skiba join them for this project. “No hard feelings, but the show must go on for our fans.” Additionally, Skiba will continue to make new music and tour with the Alkaline Trio.
In August, Blink member Mark Hoppus revealed in an interview that band was ready to record to their next album and intended to head into the studio at the end of 2014. “We have the beginning of song ideas at this point, and we are really just excited to get into the studio and have an album out sooner rather than later," Hoppus said. There's no word on how DeLonge's departure will affect the plans for the new album.
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