“It brought back friendships that I hadn’t had in years”: Mark Hoppus says accidentally sharing his cancer diagnosis was “the best mistake” he’s ever made
Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus accidentally revealed to the world that he had cancer through an Instagram post, an error he now looks back on as “the best mistake” he’s ever made.
The bassist accidentally shared a photo of him undergoing chemotherapy to his Instagram in 2021, which he thought he had sent to a family WhatsApp group. Though originally he wanted to keep his diagnosis private, Hoppus was inundated with support, and felt less alone in what he was going through.
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Hoppus later confirmed that he was cancer-free in September that year, and has now written a memoir titled Fahrenheit-182, which he co-authored with journalist Dan Ozzi. It documents his life and career, from his childhood to his journey with blink, as well as his battle with the disease.
In a new interview with The Guardian, he explains, “I really thought I was going to die, and, in a way, it absolutely was so freeing. I’d spent my whole life hypervigilant, thinking: what’s the worst thing that could happen? And, oh, it’s here now, I’m dealing with it and it still sucks.”
He adds, “The physical pain and exhaustion of the chemo, mixed with the steroids and all the other drugs, just crushed me for months on end. But it brought back friendships that I hadn’t had in years. It healed my friendship with Tom [DeLonge]: from day one, he was like: ‘What do you need? I’m there.’ In that friendship and the love and support of people around me, I thought: you know what? I’ve had a pretty awesome life.”
Of his Instagram blip, Hoppus says it was “the best mistake I’ve ever made, by far.”
“I suffered alone in silence for so long because I thought that, once it came out I had cancer, people’s opinions of me would change,” he states. “Just generally in life, I felt that when people get sick or injured in some way they get left behind, like: ‘OK, you’re over here now in a different category.’ But I was wrong.”
Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir is out now. You can also catch blink-182 on the road this summer – a full list of tour dates is available on their official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
