The drummer of the punk rock band opts out of their Australian tour due to his fear of flying.
- Feb 18, 2013
AceShowbiz - Bad Religion / Tenacious D 's Brooks Wackerman replaces resident drummer Travis Barker when Blink-182 goes on their nine-city Australian tour which kicks off on Wednesday in Sydney. Barker bows out of the concert tour due to his fear of flying which he acquired after surviving a small-plane crash back in 2008, being one of only two survivors of the crash that left four others dead.
"I'm sorry to announce I won't be joining Blink-182 on this Australian tour. I still haven't gotten over the horrific events that took place the last time I flew when my plane crashed and four people were killed, two being my best friends", Barker posted on his Facebook page last Saturday. The drummer luckily escaped death but sustained serious injuries mainly second and third-degree burns that required him to undergo a string of blood transfusions.
"I gave the band my blessing to take another drummer if they still wanted to do the tour without me," Barker wrote. "I hope to come to Australia again some day, perhaps by ship if need be. Unfortunately, there wasn't a boat that worked with the schedule this time around. Once again I'm sorry to all the fans."
Barker's brush with death prompted his trio with Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge to reunite within a year of the accident. Since their 2005 split, they released their "Dogs Eating Dogs [EP]" last December independently after their contract with Interscope Records had already ended.
Perhaps to compensate for the bad news of his Blink-182 tour non-appearance, Barker premiered the animated music video of his collaboration track with rapper Yelawolf entitled "Funky Sh*t". The track is a cut off their "Psycho White" EP team-up.
