Blink-182's Mark Hoppus recently opened up about the "musical battle" between his band and Green Day, which came to the forefront during the iconic 2002 Pop Disaster Tour.
Blink-182 headlined every night during the tour, even though Green Day was the band that Hoppus had admired throughout his youth.
"I literally waited for the day that 'Dookie' came out," he told NME in an interview published Monday. "I was in line waiting to buy it."
By 2002, Blink-182 was enjoying major success with their chart-topping album "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket." Green Day, meanwhile, was experiencing a quieter period in the wake of their 2000 release "Warning." The contrast fueled what Hoppus called an unspoken rivalry during their performances.
"We walked in thinking we were hot [expletive]" Hoppus said. "And Green Day walked in ready to fight — musically, of course. They blew us off the stage the first few nights and we were like, 'Oh [expletive], we have to up our game.' It definitely made us a better band."
And while there was no personal conflict, with Hoppus describing Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong as "super nice to us," the drive to win over the crowd each night turned their shows into a performance showdown.
"It was this back-and-forth about who could put on the better show and who could win people over," Hoppus said. "I think I inspired them so much they were like, 'We have to kill Blink-182 with an awesome album called "American Idiot."'"
Hoppus' account comes on the heels of the release of his new memoir "Fahrenheit-182," which delves into his influence on pop culture, his encounters with fellow artists, and his personal fight against cancer. Hoppus announced the memoir on Instagram with a photo of himself holding the book at a bookstore.
"THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!" he captioned the post.
"WARNING: This book may be great, but it's also full of nudez," fellow bandmate Tom DeLonge commented on the post.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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