Mark Hoppus – the bassist, vocalist and founding member of Blink-182 – has spoken about the band’s long-awaited reunion with original guitarist Tom DeLonge, who left the band in 2015.

Speaking on his Apple Music show After School Radio (as transcribed by Billboard), Hoppus expressed his relief that the news of the band’s classic line-up reunion was now out in the open. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “That was a burden to carry that secret for so long.”

Hoppus went on to use a recent fan interaction while attending a baseball game in Los Angeles as an example. After getting a photo together, the fan asked Hoppus if there was “any way at all”.

“I’m like, ‘Any way for what?’” Hoppus continued. “He’s like, ‘Is there any chance of a Blink-182 reunion tour with Tom back in the band at all?’ He had such hope and desperation in his eyes, and I just wanted to put my hand on his shoulder and say, ‘My friend, just you wait. Just wait three, four more days.’

“I should have taken his name and should have just posted it on Instagram, [and] been like, ‘This is for you, Steve! Great idea!’”

After speculation over the weekend following the band wiping their Instagram, Blink-182 announced yesterday that they had officially reunited with DeLonge for the first time in over eight years. In addition, the band announced that a new album – their ninth overall, and first with DeLonge since 2011’s ‘Neighborhoods’ – had been recorded, with the first single ‘Edging’ arriving this Friday (October 14).

A world tour is set to begin in March of 2023, which will take the band through to February of 2024 with dates in North and South America, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.