Mark Hoppus
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

Mark Hoppus first met Ali Vatter during this summer's Blink-182 reunion tour, where she worked as a member of the catering crew. Not surprisingly, it was one of the toughest jobs you could have on a traveling rock-and-roll circus. She and a small crew were responsible for preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for an army of techs, stagehands and drivers, not to mention keeping the talent — an ever-changing assortment of bands of all shapes and sizes and desires — fed and happy. The hours were long, and the pay wasn't great, but Vatter never complained. She loved her job.

But when the tour swung down to Florida, something changed. Vatter fell ill and was rushed to a hospital in Tampa. After 12 hours of tests, she learned that she needed to have her appendix out, immediately. She underwent surgery, and the Blink tour went on without her. But they didn't forget about her.

"I saw her every day on tour. She was part of the catering crew. ... They worked probably harder than anyone else on the tour. They were the first ones up in the morning, feeding everyone breakfast, and they had to prepare meals for, I don't know, 100 people a day," Hoppus said. "We talked to them pretty much more than anyone else on tour. ... And so, when she left the tour for a few days, and everyone was really concerned about her, we kept checking back: 'Is she doing better? Is she out of the hospital?' "

Eventually, Vatter returned to the tour — only she didn't seem like her usual effervescent self. Something was weighing on her ... and when the Blink shows finally wrapped, she finally told Hoppus what was wrong: Due to a pre-existing condition, she was deemed uninsurable by health-insurance providers, which meant that she was stuck with the bill from her surgery and subsequent hospitalization — a bill that totaled $42,850.

"At our Hollywood Palladium show ... she was really upset, saying, 'I just got my hospital bill and I don't know what I'm going to do. There's no way I can pay this back.' And it was really eye-opening to me," Hoppus said. "She can't afford to pay that. It's a life-threatening situation where she had to get her appendix removed. ... She had to have the surgery, but she has no way to pay it back whatsoever. So what's she going to do? Declare bankruptcy? Take out a loan? The reality is she has no means to pay that back right now."

Distressed, Vatter had started a Web site explaining her dilemma and asking for donations to help pay her medical bills. And Hoppus decided that he had to help. He let it be known that he would match every dollar donated to her cause. Slowly, the money started pouring in. But Hoppus didn't think that was enough. After all, Vatter was just one of some 12.6 million non-elderly Americans who are routinely denied health insurance. And he was determined to let people know about it.

He wrote an op-ed column for the Huffington Post, not just about Vatter, but about the millions like her. He's hoping that, in some small way, he can bring about change, not just in our health-care system, but in people's minds. He doesn't claim to have all the answers, and he's not offering up a solution to the problem — he's just hoping to appeal to people's common sense.

"I don't claim to know what the right thing to do is. I just know there's a huge problem that we need to get fixed. ... I don't get involved in politics all that much, but when I feel that something is blatantly wrong, I feel like I have to say something," he explained. "And after I spoke out about it, I got all these responses from people who are in the same situation. I got people that work every day and have gone five years without any insurance. And these aren't people who are relaxing at home, or too lazy to deal with it, these are people who work hard every day, and still can't get enough money together just for basic health-care coverage."

Hoppus said that he's been "amazed" by the outpouring of support for Vatter. He mentioned that the members of Fall Out Boy have pledged to make a donation to her cause. And he hopes that everyone — those on both sides of the ongoing health-care debate — can come together over her story. Because if they do, then they can never say they don't know an uninsured person, and perhaps then, they'd realize that the whole system is broken, and it must be fixed.

"There's been a lot in the news and everyone's talking about health-care reform, how many millions of uninsured Americans there are, and all these issues. And it's obviously important, but when it happens to someone you know and someone you work with, it takes on a whole new meaning," he said. "I think the issue gets so confused and convoluted when it goes through politicians and lobbyists and people trying to use scare tactics. It's really hard to get to the heart of the matter and boil it down and figure out what the answer is. Somebody needs to come with a clear head and make some hard decisions and get us to a place where people aren't working full-time jobs and living in desperate fear of getting sick and losing everything."

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Travis Barker and Rob Dyrdek (as his alter-ego "Bobby Light")
Photo: MTV

Rob Dyrdek is a man with big dreams and deep resources. On Thursday's (October 8) episode of MTV's "Fantasy Factory," the pro skater-turned-reality-TV star decides it's time to indulge his live-music pipe dream and sets his sights on one of the biggest acts in rock music to make it come true: Blink-182.

Before the show airs at 9 p.m. ET, MTV News has an exclusive sneak peek at the episode, in which Dyrdek resurrects his R&B alter ego Bobby Light — who recorded the beat-heavy "Dirty Girl" a few years back — and lays down some fresh material with rappers Bishop Lamont and Ryu. Dyrdek then hits up Blink drummer Travis Barker to find out if he can open one of the band's shows. Blink were only just getting back together for a reunion tour at the time, but Barker gives Dyrdek the OK and says he'll even play drums for Light during the performance.

Backstage in Las Vegas, as Blink get ready for just their second show of the tour, Barker, Mark Hoppus and Dyrdek (dressed in Light's blond wig and white suit) have a chat.

"How do you wash something like that, just out of curiosity?" Hoppus laughs, checking out Dyrdek's getup.

"I don't think you do," he responds. "The last Bobby Light outfit — I just wore it till it was yellow. He doesn't like to shower; he parties a lot."

"Anybody like you who talks about themselves in the third person [is] welcome on our stage anytime," Hoppus tells him.

"You know something?" Dyrdek says. "That is a guarantee. I promise I'll continue to do that."

Not long afterward, though, Dyrdek has a change of heart. Maybe Bobby Light isn't destined for rock immortality. "I think I'm going to stick to skateboarding," he laughs. "Being a one-hit-wonder R&B sensation's not easy!"

To see the full Blink appearance, tune in to "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory" Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.

• blink-182

Travis Barker (file)
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ WireImage

On Wednesday, during a tour stop in Atlanta with blink-182, Travis Barker stopped by the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, which treated him last September after he survived a plane crash with his friend DJ AM, who passed away in August. The drummer wanted to thank the doctors who helped save his life.

"I'm here to say 'thank you' to everyone who took care of me after the accident," he said in a statement to "Extra." "I was sort of unconscious the last time I was here, and I felt like I owed them a big 'thank you.' "

Barker also met with patients who are currently being treated at the center and signed autographs for them. In photos from his visit, Barker is seen showing a doctor the arm that was burned and chatting with a patient.

"This was a great opportunity for our staff and our patients to see someone who is truly a success story," Dr. R. Fred Mullins, who helped treat Barker's wounds, said in a statement. "Travis was gracious with his time today, and his presence was a nice surprise and boost for everyone here.

After the visit, Barker later tweeted how great he felt visiting the burn treatment center. "Just leaving the JMS burn center here in GA. Amazing talented people over there, angels is what I like to call them," he wrote. "Wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them. Glad I was able to go by and say thank u. I'll never forget them or what they did for me."

When he wrapped up the band's show that night at the Atlanta Lakewood Amphitheater, he tweeted, "ATL went off, f---ing amazing tour, amazing crew & the most amazing crowds. Thank you guys. Driving back to LA. In 37 hrs I will be reunited with my humans and my son will be 6 years old. I'm the happiest dad in the world right now."

• Travis Barker, DJ AM Escape Plane Crash

• Travis Barker
• blink-182

Blink-182's Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge perform on Sunday
Photo: Cory Schwartz/ Getty Images

Earlier this year, Jay-Z sounded the death knell for Auto-Tune. And on Sunday, Pete Wentz declared the death of the Emo Swoosh. In a move of great historical significance, Wentz was shorn of his infamous spiky/swooshy "Emo" hair onstage during Fall Out Boy's set at Madison Square Garden, bringing to a close his near five-year reign as the poster boy for the decade's most maligned and abused hairstyles.

	See Blink-182 And Fall Out Boy Rip up MSG

"So you guys know Jay-Z's 'Death of Auto-Tune'?" Wentz asked the Garden crowd. "This is the death of the Emo haircut."

With that, Wentz took a seat, and as the audience squealed with delight — and perhaps even horror — he beckoned Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus over, and the head shaving began. Meanwhile, Wentz's FOB bandmates, recognizing the heft of the moment, launched into "Saturday," from their 2003 Take This to Your Grave album (which, it should be noted, was the last album Wentz recorded with normal hair).

As for the parties involved? Well, they seemed determined to downplay the sheer enormity of the moment. The freshly shorn Wentz leapt from his chair and sang backing vocals on the song, while Hoppus gathered up his gear and exited stage left.

After the show, Wentz summed up the experience with a one-sentence tweet ("I am more aerodynamic"), and Hoppus called the MSG show "amazing" and then attempted to start a Wentz-themed Trending Topic.

The Madison Square Garden show was originally scheduled to be the final stop on Blink-182's massive summer (and, really, fall) tour — which probably explains the head-shaving shenanigans — but the band canceled a handful of shows due to DJ AM's death in August. Those shows were rescheduled throughout the tour, with the last two taking place on October 6 and 7 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, Blink added even more dates, and their tour is now finally scheduled to wrap on October 12 in Santa Barbara, California.

No word on who they'll shave at that show.

• Blink-182 And Fall Out Boy Heat Up Madison Square Garden

• Fall Out Boy
• blink-182

Travis Barker
Photo: Todd Williamson/WireImage

Having already canceled their Monday show in upstate New York following the death of friend DJ AM, Blink-182 have now postponed the next two dates on their tour, as they continue to mourn.

In a statement posted late Tuesday (September 1) on bassist Mark Hoppus' blog, the guys announced they are rescheduling their Wednesday night show in Cleveland and their Thursday night show in St. Louis and, as a result, were reshuffling subsequent dates on the tour.

"After much thought and consideration, Blink-182 has rescheduled their next two shows in order for Travis Barker to mourn the loss of his dear friend Adam Goldstein," the statement read. "Blink-182 will now play St. Louis, MO on Sept 29 and Cleveland, OH on Sept 30. To accommodate the change, shows in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA have also moved to October 6th and 7th, respectively.

"All previously purchased tickets will be honored and the band will resume their current tour on September 4th in Kansas City, MO," the statement continued. "Travis, Mark and Tom would like to thank all their fans for their support during this difficult time."

Rumors of the postponement had been spreading throughout the day, starting when Taking Back Sunday guitarist Eddie Reyes — whose band has been opening for Blink on selected dates — tweeted that he was "home for three days" with his family and that he and his bandmates would "see you guys back in Kansas City."

Later, Alternative Press quoted "a representative for Weezer" (who are also on the Blink tour) that the Cleveland show had already been canceled and the St. Louis show was about to be.

A spokesperson for Blink-182 could not be reached for comment about the postponed dates.

• Remembering DJ AM
• DJ AM's Last Interview With MTV News
• DJ AM And Travis Barker's Full 2008 VMA Performances
• MTV News RAW: Blink-182

• DJ AM: A Life In Photos
• Blink-182 Reunion Tour Kicks Off In Las Vegas

• blink-182
• DJ AM

Blink-182's Travis Barker
Photo: Mark Sullivan/ Getty Images

After struggling through their concert in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday night in the wake of their friend and collaborator DJ AM's death, Blink-182 have canceled their Monday-night show in upstate New York.

"Due to circumstances surrounding the unfortunate and untimely passing of our dear friend Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein, blink-182 will not be playing tonight in Saratoga, NY at SPAC. Performances by Weezer, Taking Back Sunday and Chester French will take place as planned along with some special surprises. We thank all of our fans for their support in this tough time," reads a post on the band's official Web site headlined "Regarding tonight in Saratoga, NY."

Blink's next scheduled show is Wednesday in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

The band paid tearful tribute to AM during Saturday's show.

"This night is really hard for us onstage," bassist Mark Hoppus said to the crowd, according to YouTube footage of the show. "We lost a dear friend yesterday. His name was Adam Goldstein. You probably know him as DJ AM. He was an innovator and a genius and he loved music more than anything else. Above all he was a very dear friend."

He then requested a moment of silence from the crowd and asked for the arena lights to be dimmed as they sought to honor AM. The band then dedicated the song "Down" to Goldstein's memory. As guitarist Tom DeLonge began to sing the first verse, tears reportedly could be seen rolling down the bandmembers' faces.

Shortly before Saturday's show, Barker — who had collaborated with AM in the group TRV$DJAM and peformed as the house band at the 2008 VMAs — tweeted a tribute to AM.

"Don't know how i am gonna play 2night but i am for AM. My brother is gone.i love u and miss u, i'll never forget all the good times we had. ...

"I'll never forget everything we've been thru and every time i play the drums i'll think of you. U were an amazing friend/DJ/human being. ...

"Rest In Peace my brother, this really f---s me up."

• Remembering DJ AM
• DJ AM's Last Interview With MTV News

• DJ AM: A Life In Photos

• blink-182
• DJ AM

Travis Barker and DJ AM at the KROQ Inland Invasion concert in September 2005
Photo: MTV News

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and master turntable technician DJ AM, who died Friday, were already world-renowned musicians when they decided to collaborate together. Though Blink had become used to touring arenas and AM was performing in nightclubs, the two friends decided to embark on a project together. In September 2005, at the KROQ Inland Invasion concert, the duo told MTV News exactly how everything came together.

"Travis actually hit me up and was like, 'Yo, man, I dig what you do, and I saw this drummer with a DJ [performing], and let's get down and try it out and try to make something funky,' " AM said.

"It's crazy, I saw [that performance] in a jazz club. [It was] like mellow playing hip-hop stuff with a DJ," Barker explained. "And I said, 'I'm gonna find the best DJ and do this right.' We share a lot of the same tastes in music."

AM was at first wary of the drummer/DJ dynamic in a club setting — "It can be tough," he admitted — but eventually realized the collaborations he'd seen previously featured musicians not nearly as talented as Barker. "I've seen wack drummers," AM said as Barker hovered shirtless by his side. "He's not a wack drummer. It just kind of flowed."

During the daytime Inland Invasion show in San Bernardino, California, AM stood behind his laptop-outfitted turntables, wearing a green T-shirt and with headphones pinched between his ear and his shoulder.

Known as TRV$DJAM, Barker and AM performed as the house band during the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Weeks later, the duo survived a South Carolina plane crash that claimed the lives of four others. Though injured, they recovered to make their first post-accident performance in Los Angeles this past New Year's Eve.

• Remembering DJ AM
• DJ AM's Last Interview With MTV News
• DJ AM And Travis Barker's Full 2008 VMA Performances

• DJ AM: A Life In Photos

• DJ AM
• blink-182

Blink-182's Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker (file)
Photo: Chris Weeks/ WireImage

Following the sudden passing of DJ AM on Friday, Travis Barker and band Blink-182 took the stage as planned on Saturday night (August 29) for a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, and paid tribute to their fallen friend.

"This night is really hard for us onstage," bassist Mark Hoppus said to the crowd, according to YouTube footage of the show. "We lost a dear friend yesterday. His name was Adam Goldstein. You probably know him as DJ AM. He was an innovator and a genius and he loved music more than anything else. Above all he was a very dear friend."

He then requested a moment of silence from the crowd and asked for the arena lights to be dimmed as they sought to honor AM. The band then dedicated the song "Down" to Goldstein's memory. As guitarist Tom DeLonge began to sing the first verse, tears could be seen rolling down the bandmembers' faces, according to People.com.

Drummer Travis Barker — who had performed with AM as TRV$DJAM (they were the house band at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards), and escaped a fiery plane crash with him last year that killed four people — did not interact with the crowd. According to Rolling Stone, Barker skipped his usual levitating drum solo during the encore. At the end of "Down," he was said to have rubbed his eyes and held his head in his hands.

Shortly before Saturday's show, Barker tweeted a tribute to AM.

"Don't know how i am gonna play 2night but i am for AM. My brother is gone.i love u and miss u, i'll never forget all the good times we had. ...

"I'll never forget everything we've been thru and every time i play the drums i'll think of you. U were an amazing friend/DJ/human being. ...

"Rest In Peace my brother, this really f---s me up."

• DJ AM And Travis Barker's Full 2008 VMA Performances
• DJ AM's Last Interview With MTV News
• Remembering DJ AM

• DJ AM: A Life In Photos

• blink-182
• DJ AM

Blink-182's Mark Hoppus performing in Cincinnati, OH on Thursday
Photo: Gil Kaufman/MTV News

CINCINNATI — Imagine going to see Kim Kardashian at a book signing and having her show up in a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt. Now, picture going to see the reunited Blink-182 and making it all the way through their 90-minute set without hearing a single poop or pee joke. Unthinkable, right?

Well, that's what happened Thursday night at Riverbend Music Center in front of more than 20,000 screaming fans at what the band said was the biggest crowd on their summer tour to date. Gig #13 turned out to be a lucky one for Travis, Tom and Mark, as the adoring, mostly teen and pre-teen crowd showered them with love and vocal assistance while the boys returned the favor with their typical F-bomb-filled stage patter and frenzied pop-punk classics.

The show opened with a bang, as the band blazed through "Feeling This," "What's My Age Again?" and the moody, Cure-like "I Miss You" in front of a towering set made up of six round video screens that looked like the inside of a giant spaceship. Though many in the crowd looked like they were barely out of grade school when Blink called it quits five years ago, they shouted along to the bouncy "Stay Together for the Kids" like it was the anthem of their youth.

	Blink-182, Fall Out Boy And Panic! Rock Out In Cincinnati

Maybe it's a function of time and distance, but all three band members seemed both more accomplished at their instruments and, yes, more mature this time around. Despite his barrage of F-bombs and taunts to the crowd about local sports heroes, singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge's voice sounded slightly less nasal and more robust than in the past and his guitar playing was more nuanced. Drummer Travis Barker showed off his clearly amped-up abilities, tossing in some nuanced, jazzy fills on "Stockholm Syndrome" and blowing minds during the encore with an athletic drum solo that featured him floating on his drum riser over the stage, tilted down at a 30-degree angle and spinning around in an homage to Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee.

DeLonge and bassist/singer Mark Hoppus played off of each other all night, with cross-talk that provided proof that whatever animus broke the band up five years ago, they've overcome it and are loving playing together again. They gave each other a bro-hug on behalf of the audience before "Adam's Song," which kept building and building until it sounded like the place was going to explode. And, in a moment that rarely ever happens at big rock shows, Hoppus not only thanked the opening acts, he actually sang bits of songs from each, albeit with made-up garbled lyrics.

By the time they got to "All the Small Things" and "Josie," the band's pop-punk theatrics took a back seat to the roaring vocals from the crowd, who treated both songs like they were classic rock anthems from the 1970s. The smiles on Tom and Mark's faces as the show ended said it all.

Co-headliners Fall Out Boy played a no-nonsense 45 minutes of speedy arena-pop that verged from '80s glam metal to, well, '80s pop, courtesy of their unironic cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." And for an audience that was barely born when Blink first rolled out, the amount of buy-in on the cheesy FM radio staple's soaring chorus was truly impressive — helped, no doubt, by a vocal assist from Panic! At The Disco singer Brendon Urie.

Otherwise, FOB stuck to what they do best: big-hearted, stomping anthems like "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," the dino rock of "I Don't Care" and "I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me," which spotlighted drummer Andy Hurley's thundering chops.

At one point, bassist Pete Wentz stopped to thank Blink for bringing the band out on tour with them, saying he grew up on the band's Dude Ranch album and referring to them as "big brothers."

Pharrell protégés Chester French opened with a 20-minute set of caffeinated synth-pop that included their homage to sexy shoes, "Jimmy Choos," and sexier groupies, "Bebe Buell."

With new guitarist Ian Crawford (the Cab) and bassist Dallon Weekes (the Brobecks) in tow, Panic! At the Disco 2.0 played a 40-minute blitz of their signature paisley pop. But in place of the foppish, ruffled shirts, psychedelic circus performers and modern dandy look they began shedding more than a year ago, the streamlined quartet came out in slim, shiny dark suits and played a lean set with a more rock-edged sound.  

From "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off," to "Camisado" and "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)," the band drove a little harder and faster than they used to, with singer Urie engaging in a bit of sexually charged banter with his young admirers. The band also showed off their new single, the sing-songy pop tune "New Perspective," which gave mop-topped guitarist Crawford a chance to show off a few vintage 1984 guitar tricks.

All in all, it was a super-charged, triumphant night for the bands and their fans, especially a trio of Blink fanatics who were at the very front and center of the barriers. Wearing a coonskin cap, Kentucky native Brandon Rogers, 21, said he hadn't slept for three days in anticipation of seeing Blink for the first time. "Their music defined our childhood year," he said. "They represent our age."

He was joined by pal Jonathan Dooley, also sweating it out under a coonskin cap, and 18-year-old Rebecca Schweingruber, who said she'd been listening to Blink since fifth grade and had left home at 3 a.m. to make sure she was first in line to enter the venue. "I was so stoked about this show, my brother and I partied for two days before we came down," she said.

• Blink-182, Fall Out Boy And Panic! At The Disco Rock Out In Cincinnati, Ohio

• blink-182
• Fall Out Boy
• Panic at the Disco

Mark Hoppus
Photo: MTV News

Earlier this month, Panic! at the Disco drummer Spencer Smith told MTV News that he hoped to hand Blink-182's Mark Hoppus a few of his demos while the two bands toured together.

Smith's goal was to convince Hoppus — who, what with his work with All Time Low, Motion City Soundtrack and the Michael Jackson estate, has suddenly become a rather hot commodity — to produce a couple of tracks on the new Panic! album.

Well, those demos must have been plenty convincing. On Tuesday, MTV News spoke to Hoppus, who confirmed that he'd be producing at least one song on the upcoming Panic! disc, and he'd like to do even more, if Smith and frontman Brendon Urie will let him.

"I've heard a few of Panic! at the Disco's demos for the new album, and they're really strong," Hoppus said. "There's one track in particular that I know I'm committing to produce for them, and hopefully I'll get to do a bunch more. I know they're talking to a bunch of producers, and that's always kind of a touchy subject, especially when you're on tour with people, and they're like, 'Oh yeah, we're recording a new album, would you do a little work on it?' "

Earlier, Smith had told MTV News that Panic! hope to begin recording their new album later this fall, after completing their run of shows with Blink. And Hoppus could be following them right off the road and into the studio. Because while he didn't go into great depth while talking about the Panic! demos, it's easy to tell he heard something special in one particular tune that has him plenty psyched to start work.

"It's one of those songs that, even in the demo stages, you can tell is gonna be a gigantic song," Hoppus said. "It's really catchy. It's one of those songs you hear one time, and you just remember the hook for the rest of the day. I think it's what everybody loves about Panic! at the Disco, so yeah, I'm excited about that."

• Panic at the Disco
• blink-182

Blink-182 And Fall Out Boy Heat Up Madison Square Garden

• blink-182
• Fall Out Boy

Blink-182, Fall Out Boy And Panic! At The Disco Rock Out In Cincinnati, Ohio

• Panic at the Disco
• Fall Out Boy
• blink-182

Blink-182 Reunion Tour Kicks Off In Las Vegas

• blink-182

Pete And Ashlee, Speidi, Paris, More Attend Blink-182's Reunion In L.A.

• blink-182
• Weezer
• Fall Out Boy

2009 Grammy Awards Show

• Whitney Houston
• Justin Timberlake
• Jennifer Hudson
• U2
• Coldplay

Outrageous Moments

• Kelly Clarkson
• Madonna
• Britney Spears
• blink-182
• Michael Jackson

Spankin' New Music Week: blink-182 Photos 11.10.2004

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Paris, Usher, Mischa, At The 2004 Teen Choice Awards

• Usher
• JoJo
• Lindsay Lohan
• Lenny Kravitz
• Raven-Symoné

Making the Video: blink 182 "Feeling This"

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blink-182 live in Noblesville, Indiana June 1, 2004

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