Tom DeLonge discusses mending relationship with Mark Hoppus after cancer diagnosis

Tom DeLonge has discussed how he made up with his Blink-182 bandmate Mark Hoppus after learning of his cancer diagnosis.

Back in June, Hoppus confirmed his cancer diagnosis and said he’d begun undergoing chemotherapy for what he later clarified was stage four diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Following Hoppus’ initial statement, both DeLonge and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker  voiced their support for their friend, before DeLonge recently has now shared text conversations with Hoppus online, appearing to confirm that the band’s bassist has finished his chemotherapy treatment.

In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, DeLonge discussed how he mended a fractured relationship with Hoppus after learning of his diagnosis.

“The way the universe works is strange because I reached out to Mark because I needed him to sign this piece of paper that had to do with my divorce,” DeLonge told Lowe. “Only because of that call did I learn he had cancer. And he told me on the phone. I was like, “Wait, what?” And we weren’t really talking much at all, maybe once every couple of months, a little text here and there.

“But now, we talk multiple times a day. So it’s like we’ve been able to completely repair that friendship and really cut to the depth of who we are as people and what this is all about. And he’s had a really difficult time, but he’s doing really good right now, in the sense of where the cancer is gone, as far as we know, and the chemo worked really well.”

He added: “So now he’s healing up. I don’t think he’s jumping for joy, but he’s emotionally supercharged from where he was. It’s interesting how stupid and how much ego is involved with boys. We’re just boys and bands. Women are so much better at this stuff than we are. I always tell my wife, I was like, “Boys are weird because unless it’s a big deal, we’re either going to fist fight or we’re just going to brush it under the rug. There’s no grey area.”

DeLonge was speaking to promote ‘LIFEFORMS’, the new album from his side-project Angels & Airwaves, which lands tomorrow (September 24).

Reviewing the album, NME wrote: “Tom DeLonge might be riding high musically, but apart from a throwaway line in ‘Losing My Mind’ (“I said we’re not alone and the Government knows it”), ‘LIFEFORMS’ is an ambitious punk record that speaks of the everyday.

“Polished but with plenty of grit and light on ego, it’s the most relatable this band has ever been.”

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