Reunited and Ready to Party Like It's 1999!

When Blink-182 broke up in 2005, they were sick of fame. "The giant vehicle of the band was determining everything," says bassist Mark Hoppus. "It sounds cheesy, but we needed to take time to find ourselves."

After drummer Travis Barker was injured in a plane crash in September, guitarist-singer Tom DeLonge - who had been estranged from his band-mates since abruptly quitting - reached out.
"I put the b******* aside and wrote him a letter," DeLonge says. "There was no big talk; after a couple of phone calls, things were back to normal."

Now the trio are in the early stages of recording their self-produced sixth album. "We're talking about using analog keyboards from the Sixties," says DeLonge, who fronted emo-rock band Angels and Airwaves after leaving Blink. (Barker and Hoppus released one album as +44.) "People are going to be blown away."

Promoters expect the trio's tour will be a hit. (Their last trek, in 2004, grossed $6.9 million.) "On the Warped Tour Website, we ask fans who they want to see, and Blink pops up all the time," says the fest's founder, Kevin Lyman. For a new generation of emo fans and bands, Blink's irreverent, upbeat take on punk rock with hits like "What's My Age Again" and "All the Small Things" was hugely influential. "They're the godfathers of punk pop," says the Academy Is... frontman William Beckett - who wasn't old enough to drive during Blink's late-1990s heyday. "When I heard they were reuniting, I was freaking out on my blog."

I love Them *.* Domino: Back in Blink