Blink-182’s Latin American fans will have to wait a little longer to see the band on their upcoming reunion tour. For the first time in nearly a decade, Tom DeLonge would be performing alongside Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker – but now Barker is out, having undergone surgery earlier this week after dislocating and tearing ligaments in his ring finger.
“This has been something we’ve been aiming to do for so long and we work so hard and we just kind of had one of those freak accidents that nobody saw coming,” DeLonge shared in an Instagram video. “Travis needs to go in and have surgery on his finger and we have to get that well. We have to get that strong before we can do anything else. This is just so sad.”
Early last month, Barker revealed he injured his finger during band rehearsals: “I was playing the drums at rehearsals yesterday and I smashed my finger so hard I dislocated it and tore the ligaments.” A few weeks later, he posted an Instagram Story showing off his knuckle, captioning the image of his swollen and bruised hand: “Again.”
“These were the biggest shows we ever played,” DeLonge continued. “These are some of the most important places in the world for for a band this is like the pinnacle of our career was coming down and playing for you guys. So I really want you all to know, we are devastated and we plan to come back.”
Blink-182’s world tour was scheduled to begin on March 11, with the band’s first show in Mexico since 2004. The other dates – which included stops in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, and more – marked their first-ever Latin American concerts.
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The tour will now begin on May 5 in Saint Paul and run through July 16, when the band wraps the North American leg in Nashville. The European leg will begin in September, ahead of an Australian leg beginning in February 2024.
“I know it seems like you waited so long that you have and we waited so long to this is just devastating on so many levels, but we’re going to get Travis better,” DeLonge said. “And we’re going to come down, the three of us together, and we’re going to rock and we’re going to have an incredible time with you guys. But I really want you to know from my heart to yours, how important you guys are to us and this is not something that we could even have saw coming. It’s just devastating. But we love you. Blink-182 loves you. We will see you soon.”
