Blink-182's Mark Hoppus reveals dark thought when he believed he 'wasn't going to make it' during cancer battle

Daily Mail​

01-05-2025

Blink-182's Mark Hoppus got candid about his cancer battle as he revealed that he was not going to make it out alive.
The 53-year-old bassist and vocalist -who recently made a bizarre claim about the capture of Saddam Hussein - revealed that he had the dark realization that he had to 'mentally prepare' for his family to move on without him.
The punk rocker was recently on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X where he got candid about getting chemotherapy during his battle with the devastating disease.
Mark explained: 'It was brutal. It was awful. My form of cancer… My doctor told me, the good news is that I had a 60% chance of getting through it and never having to deal with it again.
'But the bad part was that the chemo is one of the worst that you could undergo. And I did, I had all the stuff. I was sick, my hair fell out. It was bad. I don't recommend it. Zero out of five stars.'
The What's My Age Again hitmaker said that he was grateful that the chemo process helped 'save' him despite how tough it was before he was asked how taxing it was for him mentally.
Mark replied: 'Oh yeah. It got pretty dark. And this is a morning radio show, and everybody's driving to work or whatever, but yeah. It was pretty dark. It was awful. And I really thought that I wasn't going to make it.
'I thought I was on the wrong side of that 60%, and I was mentally preparing for, you know, my family moving on, and what my wife was going to do after I was gone, and who was going to help raise my son and all that kind of stuff. So, to be here with you all today, and to sit next to Captain Crapbeard is a dream come true!'
The Adam's Song singer's health has been on an upswing in recent years and he is grateful that his cancer had not spread nor has it come back.
Mark explained: 'I'm healthy, I'm well. I don't even have to get scanned anymore, touch wood. I had to get scanned every six months for years. And you know, every time you go in, you're like, "Oh, it's definitely back. Oh, this is definitely coming back bad."
'But I talked to my oncologist a couple months ago and I said, "Well, when do I get scanned again?" Then he was like, "No, you're cool." My oncologist is so chill the whole time about everything. He was like, "No, you're fine." Like, when I was when I was in remission, and my first cancer scan came back clear, I was like, "Well, what do I do now?" And he's like, "Go live your life."'
Mark's cancer battle did help some of his relationships. The star repaired his fractured friendship with bandmate Tom DeLonge, who left and rejoined the group several times due to disagreement with their image as the 'naked band'.
The singer made his cancer treatment public when he accidentally sent a photo of himself on a chemo drip to his Instagram Stories in June 2021.
His brain was fogged with medication at the time and he thought he had been sending the photo to a family WhatsApp group.
Mark )pictured with his wife Skye Everly who he married in 2000) said: 'And I really thought that I wasn't going to make it. I thought I was on the wrong side of that 60%, and I was mentally preparing for, you know, my family moving on, and what my wife was going to do after I was gone, and who was going to help raise my son and all that kind of stuff'Mark explained: 'It was brutal. It was awful. My form of cancer… My doctor told me, the good news is that I had a 60% chance of getting through it and never having to deal with it again. 'But the bad part was that the chemo is one of the worst that you could undergo. And I did, I had all the stuff. I was sick, my hair fell out. It was bad. I don't recommend it. Zero out of five stars.'
Mark now considers this 'the best mistake' he has ever made as it meant he was no longer suffering in silence.
He was declared cancer free in September 2021 and said he would continue to be screened every six moths in case it returns.
The performer previously spoke about his health battle in detail on a Twitch stream.
'My classification is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma stage four-A, which means, as I understand it, it's entered four different parts of my body,' he said.
'I don't know how exactly they determine the four-part of it, but it's entered enough parts of my body that I'm stage four, which I think is the highest that it goes. So, I'm stage four-A.'
He initially confirmed his diagnosis in a June 23 tweet, saying, 'It sucks and I'm scared, and at the same time I'm blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this.'
Mark previously told People that going through 'chemotherapy was brutal,' as he 'had the worst brain fog' and was sapped of his energy and 'ended up being on the couch just trying to get through the day.'
He recalled: 'We were sitting at dinner with friends that we've known for years, and I'm looking at the husband across the table, thinking to myself, "I can't remember your first name." And it was like that all the time. I still feel it once every couple days - I'll forget a word - but it's much better.'
Mark was declared cancer free in September 2021 and said he would continue to be screened every six moths in case it returns
He told the outlet he was 'doing good' and 'in a much better place' in the near-year after he was given a clean bill of health.
'I feel like I have a second shot at life,' he said.
Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus has claimed that he once advised a US Navy admiral on how to capture former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The punk-rock pioneer, shared the shocking anecdote in his new autobiography, Fahrenheit-182, claiming he may have actually helped the US government capture Hussein back in 2003.
Hoppus, 53, recalled an encounter aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf in the early 2000s - when the war in Iraq was heating up - where he allegedly provided his insights to an admiral.
'Sir, I have a plan for how to catch Saddam Hussein,' he recalled saying to the admiral.
According to Hoppus, his plan involved the use of drones capable of broadcasting ultrasonic frequencies.
The frequencies would then be used to triangulate Hussein's location when he released his video messages from an unknown location.
The star bassist suggested that if Hussein released a videotape, that the time code could be captured, which in turn would allow authorities to triangulate the embattled Iraqi president's location.
'Sir, what about having drones fly all over the region in carpeting patterns, broadcasting time codes above the level of human hearing but at the level that a video recording would catch it,' he claims to have pitched.
'Then, the next time he releases one of his videos, you can listen to it, pull the ultrasonic data, and triangulate the drones you have flying all over.'
Hoppus went on to say that he remembers the admiral being 'genuinely taken aback' by the idea, and mentioning that he may pitch the idea to the Chiefs of Staff.
'Four months later, Saddam was located and captured in Iraq,' Hoppus wrote, adding, 'So, you're welcome everyone.'
While the story may sound unconventional, Hoppus' connection to the military isn't entirely far-fetched.
In 2003, Blink-182 performed for US troops aboard the USS Nimitz, a deployment that coincided with the Operation Red Dawn - the mission that led to Hussein's capture in 2003.
Despite the lack of official acknowledgement of Hoppus' involvement in the operation, his account adds a curious twist to the annals of military history.
Whether his advice played a role in Hussein's capture remains a matter of speculation, but Hoppus' near unbelievable story certainly adds an unexpected chapter in his punk rock legacy.
Hussein had been found cowering in a grubby bolt-hole on December 13, 2003.
As one U.S. military commander said, he was 'caught like a rat'.
Holed up in an underground chamber little bigger than a coffin, he surrendered without a fight when allied troops cornered him in a farm near Tikrit, his birthplace.
Bearded, thin and exhausted, he had been on the run for 250 days.
On November 5, 2006, he was finally found guilty of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal. He was then sentenced to be hanged until dead.
A month later in Baghdad - at 6am on December 30 – he was led to a platform in a concrete chamber by masked men.
Two U.S. soldiers from the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division prepare to lift the foam cover to the hole where former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hid
Wearing a white shirt and dark overcoat, he refused a hood and shouted 'God is great'.
Soldiers taunted him with insults until a judge demanded silence.
As he clutched a copy of the Koran, a noose was placed around his neck – waxed to guarantee a clean slide of the knots. The trapdoor was released and a loud crack was heard when his neck broke.
Left to swing for several minutes, a doctor was called to listen for a heartbeat. Saddam was dead.
Beyond his military encounter, Hoppus continues to share personal experiences in 'Fahrenheit-182,' revealing stories of personal struggles, relationships within the band, and the impact of cancer on his life.