Coachella 2023: Blink-182's performance will be the band's first in 9 years

When Blink-182 performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday, it will be the first time the famous trio — Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker — has shared a stage in nine years.

Coachella is known for many surprises during both weekends, but the band's 6:45 p.m. Friday set in the Sahara tent marks the second year in a row that a special guest has been added to the lineup just days before the event. In 2022, the festival announced a day before Weekend 1 that Arcade Fire would perform a Friday evening set in the Mojave tent.

Blink-182 announced a reunion last October, which was supposed to start in March in Tijuana, Mexico but Barker injured two fingers and required surgery.

Rumors began to circulate on Monday that the Poway pop-punk band would play the festival after bassist Hoppus posted a playlist titled "Coachella" to his Apple Music account featuring the group's hits and fan favorites. Blink-182's social media accounts didn't offer any other clues until after the festival released set times on Wednesday night.

The band's Friday appearance will also be its first at the festival, and an unofficial kick-off of the rescheduled reunion tour, which starts on May 4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Before Barker joined Blink-182, he worked as a garbageman in Laguna Beach and played in the superhero-themed rock band The Aquabats, which was managed by Bill Fold, who went on to become an executive at Goldenvoice. A Goldenvoice representative confirmed that Barker slept on Fold's couch at his Riverside home and the two remain close friends. According to VegNews, Fold, who is one of the founders of the Riverside plant-based burger chain Monty's Good Burger, awarded shares of the company to Barker.

Overcoming hardships

Even though Blink-182 is known for running naked in its music video for the song "What's My Age Again?" and for performing on the same stages as punk legends such as Pennywise and Bad Religion, it hasn't been all fun and games since the group's founding in 1992.

The band's 1997 album "Dude Ranch" featured the commercially successful single "Dammit," which also appeared on the soundtrack for the teen comedy "Can't Hardly Wait" and TV series "Dawson's Creek." And the band's choice to break from the punk underground scene and opt for a more pop-friendly sound in the 1999 album "Enema Of The State" attracted a wider following.

But tensions began to escalate between members, and the band went on hiatus in 2005.

Barker went on to pursue a solo drum career and did a small stint on reality TV for "Meet the Barkers," featuring his family life with ex-wife Shanna Moakler and their two children Alabama and Landon. DeLonge formed band Angels & Airwaves.

Blink-182 reunited in 2009 after Barker survived a fatal plane crash that killed four people, with him and fellow musician Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein being the only survivors. The crash caused Barker to suffer from PTSD, preventing him to travel by air for tours.

Barker and Hoppus announced in 2015 that DeLonge had "indefinitely" left the band in a release. The guitarist immediately shut down the claims writing he "never quit the band," calling the press releases "weird." Blink-182 continued with Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, who recorded two albums with the band.

In 2021, Hoppus announced he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, saying he was "scared" but "blessed with incredible doctors." Months later, in September 2021, he announced he was "cancer free" after going through several treatments.

Barker was hospitalized in 2022 with life-threatening pancreatitis shortly after marrying Kourtney Kardashian in a Dolce & Gabbana-laden wedding in Italy.

“I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube,” the 46-year-old musician wrote on Instagram. “This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis.”

"I am so very very grateful that with intensive treatment, I am currently much better," Barker added along with a praying hands emoji.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2023: Blink-182 set will be the band's first in 9 years