Tom DeLonge

Thomas Matthew DeLonge was born in Poway, California, on December 13, 1975, the son of mortgage broker, Constance (née Lovell), and oil company executive Thomas Lyon DeLonge. He has a brother, Shon, and a sister, Kari. He is of German and Mexican descent. His first musical instrument was a trumpet, which he received as a Christmas gift at age 11. He originally planned to become a firefighter, and participated in the San Diego Cadet Program. He first picked up the guitar from a friend at church camp, and became preoccupied by the instrument. He attempted to form a band named Big Oily Men, which was essentially a one-man band because its lineup consisted of whomever he could persuade to join him for short periods. He first began skateboarding in the third grade, After high school, he worked on construction sites, driving a diesel truck and handling concrete and piping: "I hated, hated, hated my job. You know those people who hate their job? That was me." He quit when Blink-182 signed with MCA Records in 1996. ==Music career==

1992–2002: Blink-182 DeLonge formed his first successful band, Blink-182, in 1992. He was removed from Poway High School in the second half of his junior year for going to a basketball game while inebriated. He was forced to attend a different school for one semester, nearby Rancho Bernardo High School, where he became friends with Kerry Key, and his girlfriend, Anne Hoppus. Rancho Bernardo organized Battle of the Bands competitions, and DeLonge signed up, performing an original song titled "Who's Gonna Shave Your Back Tonight?" to a packed auditorium. Drummer Scott Raynor was at the competition with his own group, which soon dissolved, after which he was introduced by friend Paul Scott to DeLonge at a party. The two began to organize jam sessions at Raynor's home, shifting through various bassists. The following summer, his desire to be in a legitimate band increased significantly – Anne Hoppus characterized Delonge's passion as "incessant whining and complaining". Her brother, bassist, Mark Hoppus, was new to San Diego and she introduced the two one night that August. The two would jam for hours in DeLonge's garage, exchanging lyrics and writing new songs. The trio began to practice together in Raynor's bedroom, spending hours together writing music, attending punk shows and movies and playing practical jokes. Hoppus and DeLonge would alternate singing vocal parts. The trio first operated under a variety of names, including Duck Tape and Figure 8, until DeLonge rechristened the band "Blink". Their first demo, Flyswatter—a combination of original songs and punk covers—was recorded in Raynor's bedroom in May 1993. DeLonge called clubs constantly in San Diego asking for a spot to play, as well as calling up local high schools convincing them that Blink was a "motivational band with a strong anti-drug message" in hopes to play at an assembly or lunch. With help from local record store manager Pat Secor, the group recorded Buddha (1994), a demo cassette that increased the band's stature within San Diego. Cargo Records signed the band on a "trial basis"; Hoppus was the only member to sign the contract, as DeLonge was at work at the time and Raynor was still a minor. The band recorded their debut album in three days at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles, fueled by both new songs and re-recordings of songs from previous demos. Although Cheshire Cat, released in February 1995, made very little impact commercially, it is cited by musicians as an iconic release. The band toured constantly between 1995 and 1996, performing nationwide, as well as in Canada and in Australia. By March 1996, the trio began to accumulate a genuine buzz among major labels, resulting in a bidding war between Interscope, MCA and Epitaph. MCA promised the group complete artistic freedom and eventually signed the band, but Raynor held a great affinity for Epitaph and began to feel half-invested in the band when they passed over the label. Their second effort, Dude Ranch, hit stores the following summer and the band headed out on their first Warped Tour. When lead single "Dammit" began rotation at Los Angeles-based KROQ-FM, other stations took notice and the single was added to rock radio playlists across the country. Dude Ranch shipped gold by 1998, but the exhaustive touring schedule brought tensions among the trio. Raynor had been drinking heavily to offset personal issues, and he was fired by DeLonge and Hoppus in mid-1998 despite agreeing to attend rehab and quit drinking. Travis Barker, drummer for tourmate the Aquabats, filled in for Raynor, learning the 20-song setlist in 45 minutes before the first show. Barker joined the band full-time in summer 1998 and the band entered the studio with producer Jerry Finn later that year to begin work on their third album. "All the Small Things" became a number-one hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, but also became a crossover hit and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although the band were criticized as synthesized, manufactured pop only remotely resembling punk and pigeonholed as a joke act due to the puerile slant of its singles and associating music videos, Enema of the State was an enormous commercial success. The album has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and had a considerable effect on pop punk music, inspiring a "second wave" of the genre and numerous acolytes. After multi-platinum success, arena tours and cameo appearances (American Pie), the band recorded Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), which debuted at number 1 in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Hit singles "The Rock Show", "Stay Together for the Kids" and "First Date" continued the band's mainstream success worldwide, with MTV cementing their image as video stars. 2002: Box Car Racer During time off from touring from Blink-182 in 2002, DeLonge felt an "itch to do something where he didn't feel locked in to what Blink was", and channeled his chronic back pain (a herniated disc) and resulting frustration into Box Car Racer (2002), a post-hardcore album that further explores his Fugazi and Refused inspiration. Refraining from paying for a studio drummer, he invited Barker to record drums on the project and Hoppus felt betrayed. The event caused great division within the trio for some time and an unresolved tension at the forefront of the band's later hiatus. 2003–2005: Continued success with Blink-182 and departure . The group dissolved the next year following internal tension, but reformed in 2009. Blink-182 regrouped in 2003 to record their fifth studio album, infusing experimentalist elements into their usual pop punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes (the band members all became fathers before the album was released) and side projects. Blink's eponymous fifth studio album was released in the fall of 2003 through Geffen Records, which absorbed sister label MCA earlier that year. Critics generally complimented the new, more "mature" direction taken for the release and lead singles "Feeling This" and "I Miss You" charted high, with the latter becoming the group's second number one hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Fans were split by the new direction, and tensions within the band—stemming from the grueling schedule and DeLonge's desire to spend more time with his family—started to become evident. He eventually expressed his desire to take a half-year respite from touring in order to spend more time with family. Hoppus and Barker protested his decision, which they felt was an overly long break. DeLonge did not blame his bandmates for being disappointed with his requests, but was dismayed that they seemingly did not understand. In addition, he protested the idea of Barker's reality television series, Meet the Barkers, which was being produced for a 2005 premiere. DeLonge disliked television cameras everywhere, feeling his personal privacy was invaded. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, DeLonge agreed to perform at Music for Relief's Concert for South Asia, a benefit show to aid victims. Further arguments ensued during rehearsals, rooted in the band member's increasing paranoia and bitterness toward one another. He considered his bandmates priorities "mad, mad different", and the breakdown in communication led to heated exchanges, resulting in his exit from the group. DeLonge's endorsement of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election led to him travelling the political circuit with the Democratic Party candidate; DeLonge was inspired by Kerry's need for widespread reform and likened his presidential campaign to a drug, remarking later that it "really changed [me]". He rediscovered the epiphany developed during his tour with Kerry and applied it to the philosophy of his new group, Angels & Airwaves, while he redefined himself as he learned to play piano and self-produce and formed his own home studio. In September 2005, after spending months avoiding publicity, DeLonge announced his new Angels & Airwaves project and promised "the greatest rock and roll revolution for this generation". His statements—containing predictions that the album would usher in an "entire new culture of the youth" and lead to the band's dominance—were regarded as highly grandiose in the press and mocked. Thoroughly utilized by the band, DeLonge often discussed minor details and plans for accompanying films and other promotional matter, and his managers approached him having an "intervention" in which they disquietingly questioned his frame of mind. and did not try out again when he was unable to obtain it for a week, hallucinating and deep in withdrawal. ''We Don't Need to Whisper'', the band's debut studio album, was released in 2006, and their second, I-Empire, followed in 2007. 2008–2015: Blink-182 reunion and further Angels & Airwaves releases DeLonge would reunite with Blink-182 near the end of 2008. At this time, Barker had recently survived a private plane crash, in which four others were killed. DeLonge's realization of Barker's near death incident was the catalyst for DeLonge desire to be included in the band's reformation. DeLonge found out via the TV news at an airport while waiting to board a flight; within minutes, he was crying in his seat. "I thought he was going to die", says DeLonge, who quickly reached out to his former bandmate, mailing him a letter and photograph. "Instantly after the plane crash, I was like, 'Hey, I want to play music with him again'". DeLonge was the first to approach the subject of reuniting, Blink-182 embarked on a reunion tour of North America from July to October 2009, supported by Weezer and Fall Out Boy. The tour was successful, selling out amphitheaters nationwide: "I was completely blown away and dumbfounded by how big that reunion tour was. [...] We were very fortunate, very blessed", DeLonge later said. "And truthfully, that's why we continued, because we were so blown away. We were like, "Wow, we got to suck this up and start acting like adults because this is beautiful'". in Montreal The recording process for Neighborhoods, the band's sixth studio album, was stalled by their studio autonomy, tours, managers, and personal projects. The band members produced the record themselves following the death of Jerry Finn, their former producer that also served as an invaluable member of the band. DeLonge recorded at his studio in San Diego while Hoppus and Barker recorded in Los Angeles. Completion was delayed several times, which Hoppus attributed to the band learning to work by themselves without Finn, and both DeLonge and Hoppus expressed frustration during the sessions at the band's cabal of publicists, managers and attorneys (which DeLonge described as "the absolute diarrhea of bureaucracy"). DeLonge later expressed dissatisfaction at the method of recording for Neighborhoods, conceding that it led to a "loss of unity" within the band. The album was released in September 2011 and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, but undersold expectations. Blink-182 left Interscope Records in October 2012, becoming an independent act. Delonge continued to release music and tour with Angels & Airwaves during his second tenure with Blink-182. During this period, the band would release three albums: Love (2010), Love: Part Two (2011) and The Dream Walker (2014). Blink-182 planned to enter the studio to write and record their seventh studio album in January 2015, due for release later that year, but after delays attributed to DeLonge, the band issued a statement announcing his departure. In a press release, Hoppus and Barker said, "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." In DeLonge's public response to Hoppus and Barker's claims about him not wanting to participate in a new Blink-182 album, he said the "60-page Blink contract" he was handed required that a new album be recorded within six months, and also included language that temporarily prohibited the release of other various projects that he was already under contract for. He stated, "All of these other projects are being worked, exist in contract form — I can't just slam the brakes and drop years of development, partnerships and commitments at the snap of a finger. I told my manager that I will do Blink-182 as long as it was fun and worked with the other commitments in my life, including my family." 2015–2021: Solo album and continued Angels & Airwaves involvement In March 2015, DeLonge shed some light on what his other projects entailed, claiming that he was working with "best selling authors" to co-write 15 novels with accompanying soundtrack EPs. He also expected to release four albums in 2015—two Angels & Airwaves albums and two solo albums—three of which would include a companion novel. On April 21, 2015, DeLonge released his first solo album—an eight-song collection of Blink-182 demos and more, titled To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends. Angels & Airwaves would release two additional EPs within a year, ...Of Nightmares (2015) and Chasing Shadows (2016), both of which were companion pieces to books written by DeLonge. They would go on their first tour in seven years in 2019, and release a new album two years later with Lifeforms (2021). 2022–present: Return to Blink-182 On October 11, 2022, Blink-182 confirmed DeLonge's official return to the group after an eight-year hiatus, and announced that there would be an album with him in the near future. This announcement was followed three days later by the release of the single "Edging". The resulting album One More Time... was released on October 20, 2023. ==Artistry==

Musical style DeLonge's distinctive nasal singing style and accent has been widely observed, celebrated, and mocked. Julia Gray, a writer for Vulture, termed it "the Tom DeLonge Twang, [which] contorted words like things ("theeeengs") and my head ("myy'eaad") into a cartoonish California diction." DeLonge's singing style on "I Miss You"–particularly his verse lyrics "Where are you / and I'm so sorry", or pronunciation of the word head—has been widely referenced throughout popular culture, and is considered a meme. DeLonge stated he developed the style in an attempt to sound like Milo Aukerman of the Descendents. "It’s really hard to make [singing] sound good when you’re not even doing it right to begin with, you know?" he joked in 2019. David Anthony, writer for The A.V. Club, observes it could stem from a long line of punk singers affecting an accent: "Whether it be Johnny Rotten's snarl or Joe Strummer's overt Britishness, these kinds of exaggerated singing styles have been present from the genre’s birth." Some writers have suggested DeLonge has consciously moved away from the nasal style throughout his career, particularly in the 2010s. Gray of Vulture observed that his "patented wail [became] newly deep and warbly," DeLonge's guitar playing style developed as the result of being the only guitarist in the band, and as an attempt to sound like two guitars when played together with Hoppus' bass playing. His playing frequently employs arpeggiation. He self-described his guitar parts on early blink-182 releases as "riffs that were half riff/half chords or something just to try and fill in the space." Equipment Guitars In the early years of Blink-182, DeLonge used a Squier Stratocaster on the band's demos and debut album Cheshire Cat. In late 1994, he acquired a white 40th Anniversary Edition Fender Stratocaster, which has come to be known by fans as the "Sticker Strat". It featured a DiMarzio X2N (and later a Seymour Duncan Invader) pickup in the bridge position on an angle, a Seymour Duncan JB Jr. in the middle (and later Seymour Duncan Lil' Screamin Demon), and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup in the neck position. He used this guitar on all of the touring in support of Cheshire Cat, as well as the recording and touring of Dude Ranch in 1997 before retiring it that fall. He still owns the guitar today. During the touring of Dude Ranch in 1998, he began to use Gibson Les Pauls with a Seymour Duncan Invader at the bridge. He used the Les Pauls on select tracks of Enema of the State before retiring them in 1999. Beginning with the Enema of the State tour, he used Fender Custom Shop Stratocasters with Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. This eventually developed into his signature model, released by Fender in 2001. In 2023, Fender reissued the signature model in a limited edition run. In 2001, during the recording and touring of the eponymous album by DeLonge's side project Box Car Racer, he began using a Gibson ES-335. He removed all electronics from the guitar except for the bridge volume control and replaced the stock bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Invader. This eventually lead to the creation of the Gibson Tom DeLonge Signature ES-333, which was released in 2003. This model consisted of a single Gibson Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge position with one volume control. It was available between 2003 and 2009. A lower-priced model manufactured by Epiphone was released until 2019. In December 2022, DeLonge revealed that he began using Fender Starcasters, moving away from his endorsement deal with Gibson and coinciding with his return to Blink-182. Like previous signature models, this guitar consists of a single humbucker in the bridge position (namely a Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom pickup) and one volume knob. A signature model was subsequently released by Fender in 2024 in several colors: Surf Green, Olympic White, Shell Pink, and Shoreline Gold. DeLonge endorses Ernie Ball strings and has used their Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings on his electric guitars and Earthwood Phosphor Bronze Medium Light strings on his acoustic guitars. Amps and pedals The Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier was key to DeLonge's early sound; he employed them to create a distorted sound. "A Mesa/Boogie is like a nuke: you plug it in and it fills up every piece of the sonic spectrum," he said. In a 2011 article, he outlined six musical acts that impacted his growth as a musician, among them Stiff Little Fingers, U2, Depeche Mode, New Order, Fugazi, and the Descendents. The last was his main influence when he began playing guitar; early recordings such as Buddha were an attempt to emulate their sound, where he developed a rapid guitar stumming technique. He said about the Descendents: "Their records are [...] so fast and so riffy. I’d play along to that stuff and try to get better." DeLonge has shifted from punk rock in recent years, moving toward an effects-laden progressive-inspired sound. Influence Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross both cited DeLonge as one of their major influences. Urie said that DeLonge influenced his singing, remarking that "He has a voice that no-one else has [...] He's one of my bigger influences. He always writes amazing melodies and songs." Ross said: "I wanted to learn how to play [the guitar] like Tom DeLonge." ==Non-musical endeavors==

Business DeLonge was unsure if the band's status in the music industry would grow or last, and he expanded into business beginning in 1998. He started a holding group, Really Likable People (RLP), with a US$20,000 investment. Following this, he co-founded Loserkids.com, a website specializing in youth-branded apparel. Modlife handles the official websites and fan clubs for a range of artists, including the White Stripes, Pearl Jam, and Kanye West. All of DeLonge's business entities exist under the RLP moniker, with the exception of Atticus Clothing, which was sold in 2005. In 2014, he co-directed the animated short film Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker. In June 2012, DeLonge was working on two films: a feature-length Poet film and a film based on Strange Times. The plot of the book is described by Alternative Press as a "rocketeer spending a cold Christmas alone on the moon who is visited by extraterrestrial life". DeLonge participated in a charity auction benefiting Rady Children's Hospital Foundation allowing fans to bid on a package including the book. The audiobook version of Poet Anderson: ...Of Nightmares was recorded by Liam Gerrard and released by Tantor in October 2017. The sequel Poet Anderson: Of Nightmares was released in January 2018. The audiobook version of the sequel Poet Anderson: ...In Darkness was recorded by Liam Gerrard and released by Tantor in January 2018. Sekret Machines: Book 1 – Chasing Shadows was released in April 2016. The release was a collaboration between DeLonge and author A. J. Hartley. In October 2016, DeLonge released his third novel, Strange Times: The Ghost in the Girl. This time DeLonge will collaborate with author Geoff Herbach and the novel will be based around the same characters from the graphic novel, Strange Times: The Curse of Superstition Mountain, that DeLonge published and authored in 2015. On January 28, 2019, To The Stars released an animated narrative (by DeLonge) of his children's book, Who Here Knows Who Took My Clothes? Conspiracy theories and aliens DeLonge has been a believer in aliens, UFOs, and conspiracy theories since his youth, well before founding Blink-182. Band member Travis Barker said in a 2019 interview with Joe Rogan that DeLonge is incredibly passionate about them and would look for UFOs outside the tour bus window and even create search parties to find Bigfoot. In 2014, DeLonge shared an article on Twitter which purported that the Smithsonian Institution had admitted to destroying thousands of skeletons belonging to giant humans in the early 1900s; the article was published by World Daily News Report, a satirical website whose disclaimer page clarifies that it publishes content of a fictional nature. In 2015, DeLonge founded an entertainment company called To The Stars, Inc. which, in 2017, he merged into a larger To The Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences. Aside from the entertainment division, the new company has aerospace and science divisions dedicated to ufology and the fringe science proposals of To The Stars' co-founder, Harold Puthoff. The evolution of the company was motivated by the contacts DeLonge has had with the Air Force establishment and high ranked people in aerospace companies collaborating with the Pentagon. In a 2018 financial statement filed with the SEC, the company reported that it "has incurred losses from operations and has an accumulated deficit at June 30, 2018, of $37,432,000. These factors raise doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern." In 2019, the company produced the History Channel television show ''Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation'', about the USS Nimitz UFO incident, which also features DeLonge. In April 2020, the Pentagon officially declassified three videos which had been previously leaked by people claiming they showed UFOs; DeLonge had previously released the videos through his company in 2017. ==Personal life==

In 1996, DeLonge began dating Jennifer Jenkins, whom he had known since high school. They were married in Coronado, California, on May 26, 2001. The band Jimmy Eat World performed at the reception and DeLonge gave each groomsman, including Mark Hoppus, silver yo-yos from Tiffany's. DeLonge married his girlfriend, Rose-Marie Berryman, in May 2021. ==Discography==

Solo • To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends (2015) with Blink-182 • Cheshire Cat (1995) • Dude Ranch (1997) • Enema of the State (1999) • Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) • Blink-182 (2003) • Neighborhoods (2011) • One More Time... (2023) with Box Car Racer • Box Car Racer (2002) with Angels and Airwaves • ''We Don't Need to Whisper'' (2006) • I-Empire (2007) • Love (2010) • Love: Part Two (2011) • The Dream Walker (2014) • Lifeforms (2021) ==Filmography==