Thomas Matthew DeLonge, Jr.(born December 13, 1975) is an American musician and the guitarist/vocalist for the punk rock band Blink-182 as well as the alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves.
Early years
Tom DeLonge was raised by his mother and father in Poway, California, who are of Irish, French and German descent. He has an older brother, Shon, and a younger sister, Kari. Tom was expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drinking at a school basketball game. He then went to Rancho Bernardo High School. Some of his influences have been U2, Descendents, Screeching Weasel and The Cure. When he returned to Poway High School during his senior year, the students voted him Homecoming King, despite the fact he wasn't on the ballot. Becoming a musician was not his first calling. "I was originally going to be a firefighter. I was in the San Diego Cadet Program,” says DeLonge.
Musical career
Blink-182 (1992-2005, 2009-present) and Box Car Racer (2002-2003)
When DeLonge attended Rancho Bernardo High School, he was introduced to Mark Hoppus through Hoppus' sister, Anne. In 1992, they met Scott Raynor at their school's battle of the bands and decided to form a band together that would become Blink-182. Raynor was replaced with Travis Barker in 1998, just as Blink-182 released Enema of the State, which was met with a huge amount of mainstream success, spawning three hit singles. Follow-up Take Off Your Pants and Jacket went straight to No.1 on the Billboard 200. Afterwards DeLonge and Barker participated in the band Box Car Racer, a side project created by DeLonge with his high-school friend David Kennedy in 2002. In 2003, Blink-182 released their eponymous album. DeLonge then decided to leave the band, allegedly due to mounting tensions and communication difficulties, creating a rift between him and the other members of the band. Blink-182 announced an 'indefinite hiatus' in February 2005.
Following Travis Barker's Learjet crash, DeLonge's former band mate, Mark Hoppus, posted on his blog (Himynameismark.com) on November 8, 2008, that all three band mates had communicated for the past couple of months after Barker's plane crash, which killed 4 people and left Barker and DJ AM in critical condition. This post fueled rumors among fans that a reunion was imminent[citation needed]. Adding to the speculation was an announcement made by MTV.com on February 5, 2009 that Blink-182 would reunite to present an award at the 51st Grammy Awards. This presentation marked the first time the trio had been together on stage since 2004. Before presenting the award for Best Rock Album, the band announced that they were reuniting; this announcement was followed shortly by a message posted on the band's website blink-182.com. Tom was quoted as saying "live life as if it was the last record played on the the juke box".
On February 9, 2009, Tom opened up to "Extra" about the Blink-182 reunion saying: "When you're in a band, you have this unspoken bond. You're kind of family with your boys. We took a break for a little bit. I think when Travis had the event happen to him it was something that pulled us back together... we always knew it was inevitable, we just needed something to break the ice."
Angels & Airwaves (2005-present)
DeLonge is the lead vocalist and one of two guitarists in the band Angels & Airwaves. He formed the band with high-school friend and former Hazen Street and Box Car Racer bandmate David Kennedy on guitar, as well as former Rocket from the Crypt drummer Atom Willard and former The Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn. They released their debut album We Don't Need to Whisper on 20 May 2006. During the recording of their second album, I-Empire (November 6, 2007), Ryan Sinn left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by former 30 Seconds to Mars bassist Matt Wachter. Tom DeLonge still covers Blink-182 songs, such as "Down", "I Miss You", "Not Now", and "Reckless Abandon" with Angels & Airwaves, along with Box Car Racer songs "There Is" and "My First Punk Song". In 2008, Angels and Airwaves were a part of the Vans Warped Tour.
In February of 2009 Delonge, along with Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus, announced at the Grammys that Blink-182 will be reuniting. In a video blog Delonge says that Angels & Airwaves is not over and that there are many plans with the band in the future, which may include a pay per view event with NASA. Blink-182 will be going on tour in the summer of 2009, then releasing their newest album around late 2009.
Signature guitars
Fender Guitars worked with DeLonge to create the Tom DeLonge Stratocaster (signature guitar) which consisted of a solid alder body fitted with a single Seymour Duncan Invader Bridge pickup. It was controlled by a lone volume knob adding to its simple design. At first, the Stratocasters were fitted with an American 2-Point tremolo system and was later replaced by a hardtail bridge. Its neck was made of solid maple with a rosewood fretboard, although there have been some custom Stratocasters that were fitted with maple fretboards. The necks included a large 1970s "CBS" headstock.
Since 2003, with the recording of Blink-182, DeLonge also has a signature Gibson ES-333 guitar out available in brown with cream stripes. The Tom DeLonge Signature starts with Gibson's classic semi-hollow body design and then extends it into punk rock with an overwound 'Dirty Fingers' humbucking pickup. Its thick, distorted tone is the signature sound of DeLonge's band Blink-182.
On Angels & Airwaves albums, We Don't Need to Whisper and I-Empire Tom uses his signature Gibson ES-333 which is custom made from the Gibson custom shop. Epiphone has since come out with a lower cost version of the Tom DeLonge signature guitar, manufactured overseas, but fitted with the same Dirty Fingers humbucker.
Personal life
DeLonge lives with his wife Jennifer, daughter Ava Elizabeth (born July 15, 2002), son Jonas Rocket (born on August 16, 2006), German Sheperd Grey, and Labrador Retriever Chloe in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He is the owner of Macbeth Footwear, which he founded together with Mark Hoppus and another friend, although he now runs the company without Hoppus. He has sold his share in Atticus Clothing, which he also started with Hoppus.
He has also been politically active during the 2004 and the 2008 presidential races. In 2004, he supported the Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. In 2008, he supported the Democratic nominee Barack Obama and called him "the John F. Kennedy of this generation." He also called John McCain "a 71-year-old gun-touting Republican." He is a vegetarian and created a vegan footwear line through his company Macbeth Footwear.
Other accomplishments
Tom directed the video for Taking Back Sunday's song "This Photograph is Proof" in 2004. Tom made a cameo appearance as the Burger Jungle drive thru clerk in the movie Idle Hands and in the music documentaries: Riding in Vans with Boys, The Urethra Chronicles and The Urethra Chronicles II: Harder Faster Faster Harder. Tom also made a cameo appearance in the blockbuster film American Pie with his fellow band-mates in Blink-182, acting in a scene while one of their songs, "Mutt", played in the background. Tom made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons with fellow band-mates, while "All The Small Things" played in the background.
Tom has started up his own website called Modlife; the site allows bands and their fans can meet up and interact with each other. The artists can also choose whether to have payed subscriptions for certain items. He can also be found on Twitter.
Clothing Companies
In 2001, DeLonge started Atticus Clothing and Macbeth Footwear with fellow Blink-182 band member Mark Hoppus. However, he sold his share of Atticus Clothing after leaving Blink-182 and is currently the sole owner of Macbeth Footwear.
Early years
Tom DeLonge was raised by his mother and father in Poway, California, who are of Irish, French and German descent. He has an older brother, Shon, and a younger sister, Kari. Tom was expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drinking at a school basketball game. He then went to Rancho Bernardo High School. Some of his influences have been U2, Descendents, Screeching Weasel and The Cure. When he returned to Poway High School during his senior year, the students voted him Homecoming King, despite the fact he wasn't on the ballot. Becoming a musician was not his first calling. "I was originally going to be a firefighter. I was in the San Diego Cadet Program,” says DeLonge.
Musical career
Blink-182 (1992-2005, 2009-present) and Box Car Racer (2002-2003)
When DeLonge attended Rancho Bernardo High School, he was introduced to Mark Hoppus through Hoppus' sister, Anne. In 1992, they met Scott Raynor at their school's battle of the bands and decided to form a band together that would become Blink-182. Raynor was replaced with Travis Barker in 1998, just as Blink-182 released Enema of the State, which was met with a huge amount of mainstream success, spawning three hit singles. Follow-up Take Off Your Pants and Jacket went straight to No.1 on the Billboard 200. Afterwards DeLonge and Barker participated in the band Box Car Racer, a side project created by DeLonge with his high-school friend David Kennedy in 2002. In 2003, Blink-182 released their eponymous album. DeLonge then decided to leave the band, allegedly due to mounting tensions and communication difficulties, creating a rift between him and the other members of the band. Blink-182 announced an 'indefinite hiatus' in February 2005.
Following Travis Barker's Learjet crash, DeLonge's former band mate, Mark Hoppus, posted on his blog (Himynameismark.com) on November 8, 2008, that all three band mates had communicated for the past couple of months after Barker's plane crash, which killed 4 people and left Barker and DJ AM in critical condition. This post fueled rumors among fans that a reunion was imminent[citation needed]. Adding to the speculation was an announcement made by MTV.com on February 5, 2009 that Blink-182 would reunite to present an award at the 51st Grammy Awards. This presentation marked the first time the trio had been together on stage since 2004. Before presenting the award for Best Rock Album, the band announced that they were reuniting; this announcement was followed shortly by a message posted on the band's website blink-182.com. Tom was quoted as saying "live life as if it was the last record played on the the juke box".
On February 9, 2009, Tom opened up to "Extra" about the Blink-182 reunion saying: "When you're in a band, you have this unspoken bond. You're kind of family with your boys. We took a break for a little bit. I think when Travis had the event happen to him it was something that pulled us back together... we always knew it was inevitable, we just needed something to break the ice."
Angels & Airwaves (2005-present)
DeLonge is the lead vocalist and one of two guitarists in the band Angels & Airwaves. He formed the band with high-school friend and former Hazen Street and Box Car Racer bandmate David Kennedy on guitar, as well as former Rocket from the Crypt drummer Atom Willard and former The Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn. They released their debut album We Don't Need to Whisper on 20 May 2006. During the recording of their second album, I-Empire (November 6, 2007), Ryan Sinn left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by former 30 Seconds to Mars bassist Matt Wachter. Tom DeLonge still covers Blink-182 songs, such as "Down", "I Miss You", "Not Now", and "Reckless Abandon" with Angels & Airwaves, along with Box Car Racer songs "There Is" and "My First Punk Song". In 2008, Angels and Airwaves were a part of the Vans Warped Tour.
In February of 2009 Delonge, along with Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus, announced at the Grammys that Blink-182 will be reuniting. In a video blog Delonge says that Angels & Airwaves is not over and that there are many plans with the band in the future, which may include a pay per view event with NASA. Blink-182 will be going on tour in the summer of 2009, then releasing their newest album around late 2009.
Signature guitars
Fender Guitars worked with DeLonge to create the Tom DeLonge Stratocaster (signature guitar) which consisted of a solid alder body fitted with a single Seymour Duncan Invader Bridge pickup. It was controlled by a lone volume knob adding to its simple design. At first, the Stratocasters were fitted with an American 2-Point tremolo system and was later replaced by a hardtail bridge. Its neck was made of solid maple with a rosewood fretboard, although there have been some custom Stratocasters that were fitted with maple fretboards. The necks included a large 1970s "CBS" headstock.
Since 2003, with the recording of Blink-182, DeLonge also has a signature Gibson ES-333 guitar out available in brown with cream stripes. The Tom DeLonge Signature starts with Gibson's classic semi-hollow body design and then extends it into punk rock with an overwound 'Dirty Fingers' humbucking pickup. Its thick, distorted tone is the signature sound of DeLonge's band Blink-182.
On Angels & Airwaves albums, We Don't Need to Whisper and I-Empire Tom uses his signature Gibson ES-333 which is custom made from the Gibson custom shop. Epiphone has since come out with a lower cost version of the Tom DeLonge signature guitar, manufactured overseas, but fitted with the same Dirty Fingers humbucker.
Personal life
DeLonge lives with his wife Jennifer, daughter Ava Elizabeth (born July 15, 2002), son Jonas Rocket (born on August 16, 2006), German Sheperd Grey, and Labrador Retriever Chloe in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He is the owner of Macbeth Footwear, which he founded together with Mark Hoppus and another friend, although he now runs the company without Hoppus. He has sold his share in Atticus Clothing, which he also started with Hoppus.
He has also been politically active during the 2004 and the 2008 presidential races. In 2004, he supported the Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. In 2008, he supported the Democratic nominee Barack Obama and called him "the John F. Kennedy of this generation." He also called John McCain "a 71-year-old gun-touting Republican." He is a vegetarian and created a vegan footwear line through his company Macbeth Footwear.
Other accomplishments
Tom directed the video for Taking Back Sunday's song "This Photograph is Proof" in 2004. Tom made a cameo appearance as the Burger Jungle drive thru clerk in the movie Idle Hands and in the music documentaries: Riding in Vans with Boys, The Urethra Chronicles and The Urethra Chronicles II: Harder Faster Faster Harder. Tom also made a cameo appearance in the blockbuster film American Pie with his fellow band-mates in Blink-182, acting in a scene while one of their songs, "Mutt", played in the background. Tom made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons with fellow band-mates, while "All The Small Things" played in the background.
Tom has started up his own website called Modlife; the site allows bands and their fans can meet up and interact with each other. The artists can also choose whether to have payed subscriptions for certain items. He can also be found on Twitter.
Clothing Companies
In 2001, DeLonge started Atticus Clothing and Macbeth Footwear with fellow Blink-182 band member Mark Hoppus. However, he sold his share of Atticus Clothing after leaving Blink-182 and is currently the sole owner of Macbeth Footwear.
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