blink-182

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker was recruited at the last minute from his then-current band, The Aquabats, when Scott Raynor bowed out of the band's West Coast mini-tour in 1998 due to an emergency back home. Barker was forced to learn all of the band's songs in less than an hour, and Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge were impressed by the incendiary energy he brought to the music. Tensions had already been growing between the bandmates due to Raynor's anger issues and heavy drinking, which led to his dismissal when the tour wrapped.

They have been honored by several different organizations, including the Teen Choice Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. Their 2016 album, California, was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards, but the trophy went to Cage The Elephant for Tell Me I'm Pretty.

Originally named Blink, they were forced to change by the threat of a lawsuit from an Irish techno group with the same name. This was after releasing a couple of records on independent labels, but before they were signed to MCA in the late 1990s. They put off coming up with a new name for months until their then-label, Cargo Records, threatened to choose one for them. Hoppus randomly came up with the addition of 182, but the band has offered several fake explanations for the number over the years. One of the most popular, but disproven, theories is that it's the number of times Al Pacino says the F word in Scarface.