Blink-182's Travis Barker Talks About "Borderline Suicidal" Painkiller Addiction

This past spring ushered in some major drama for pop-punk trio Blink-182 after the band severed ties with founding member Tom Delonge in what they were calling "a friendly divorce." Since then, all three founding members have been heavily on the interview circuit, which recently provided drummer Travis Barker with a platform to open up about his once "borderline suicidal" painkiller addiction.

Speaking with Billboard, Barker elaborated on his unfortunate love affair with painkillers nearly 11 years ago and how it caused the band to cancel their 2004 Australian tour. "I was so addicted to Oxycodone, and I had a security that would actually sleep during the day and then stay up at night to make sure I was breathing. That was pretty pathetic," he stated. "My bones were so brittle from so much painkiller use. I had this moment when I got to Europe for that tour where I really identified myself as a dumpster. And I wasn't proud. I was scared. I had to call Mark [Hoppus, Blink-182 bandmate] and say, 'Hey, man. I'm like borderline suicidal. I'm going crazy. I need to go home.' Like not even one show had started. I'd been there two days. I hadn't slept one day."

While his recounting of the story wouldn't appear glorious to most people at all, at eight years sober, that's the point as Barker is helping to deliver a message of recovery by sharing his gruesome tale.

While the drummer is currently in the studio recording new music with the altered Blink-182 lineup, his memoir Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death & Drums Drums Drums will drop on October 20th via William Morrow Publishers. It will focus on his career, including his horrid encounters with addiction, armed robbery and his 2008 plane crash that left four passengers dead and caused severe burns on 65 percent of his body.

Below you can watch Blink-182 with Matt Skiba perform the original band's classic track "Dammit" off of their 1997 sophomore album Dude Ranch together during one of their first shows as a newly formed unit.

While the drummer preps for his upcoming book release, former bandmate Tom DeLonge just released a book of his own titled Poet Anderson...Of Nightmares on October 6th, beating his former bandmate's book release by two weeks according to Fuse. In fact, he is supposedly releasing four albums and 15 novels by the end of this year. With only two-and-a-half months left to the year, will he make his deadline?

Since his departure from the band, DeLonge has claimed many things including making contact with aliens near Area 51 and never actually wanting to leave the band. He also recently self-released a new solo record titled Demos, Odds and Ends (possibly of once potential Blink-182 demos) via his label To The Stars.

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Tags

Blink-182, Travis Barker, Matt Skiba, Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge