Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus has revealed that The Cure‘s Robert Smith once tried to “make out” with him.
In his memoir Fahrenheit-182, published on Tuesday (April 8), Hoppus recounted the incident, which apparently took place after Smith shared the stage with the pop punk trio at a Wembley Arena concert in 2004 to perform their collaborative track ‘All Of This’.
Hoppus later discussed the incident with Us Weekly, revealing that he hadn’t notified Smith that it would be included in the book but that the two have been “totally cool”.
“I should have called him or given some kind of warning or something, but I don’t know — how do you have that conversation? ‘Hey, remember when you tried to make out with me?’ Because we’ve never addressed it,” Hoppus told Us Weekly.
“I’ve seen him several times since, and it’s been totally cool and nobody’s talked about it.” Hoppus then spoke about that night, which took place at an after-party where “everyone was drinking” and “having fun”. Smith was “feeling saucy and having a good time” at the shindig, the Blink-182 frontman recalled.
“My wife and I are like, ‘Alright, we’re out. See you later,’ and then Robert tries to kiss me,” he continued, noting that no one, except for members of Blink-182’s road crew, saw it happen.
“He was my hero. I grew up listening to this guy’s music and it changed my life forever. Then he tries to kiss me at a party and I’m like, ‘I should have done that. Why not?’ It’s a much better story than he tried to kiss me and it was awkward. It would’ve been rad to be like, ‘Yeah, made out with my hero.'”
He clarified that he “wasn’t bummed in the slightest” about the incident: “I was more, like, flabbergasted that nobody else saw it.” NME has reached out to representatives of Smith for comment.
In Hoppus’ book Fahrenheit-182, he details his journey with cancer, from first being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2021 to his chemotherapy treatment, admitting to The Guardian that “I really thought I was going to die”.
The exhaustion of chemo, steroids and physical pain “crushed me for months on end” but he also added that the diagnosis “brought back friendships that I hadn’t had in years” – including his tumultuous friendship with band co-founder Tom DeLonge. The book also explores his fractured relationship with his parents.
Hoppus was declared cancer-free later in 2021; DeLonge later reunited with the band to embark on a world tour and release their comeback album ‘One More Time‘ in 2023, which NME gave three stars: “They aren’t all that far away from who they’ve always been – three friends wanting to make some noise and have a riot of a time doing it.”
“Although they’re not exactly revolutionising pop punk, this was likely never the goal,” it added. “Chances are, the fans just want the old Blink back anyway, and in 2023, they’re just as fun as ever.”
Earlier this week, the band also announced details of a massive US tour with Alkaline Trio this autumn – find tickets here.
On the tour, they’ll be heading to major venues across the country, taking in cities from Virginia Beach to Kansas City. The run of dates begins on August 28 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, and runs through September before finishing at Palm Desert’s Acrisure Arena in California.
Tickets go on sale on Friday (April 11) at 10am local time here. Meanwhile, Citi card members have access to the presale which began at 12pm ET today and will run until Thursday at 1pm local time. Visit Citi Entertainment for more details.
Blink-182’s 2025 US ‘Missionary Impossible’ tour dates are:
AUGUST
28 – Hard Rock Live – Hollywood, FL
29 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL
SEPTEMBER
1 – Credit One Stadium – Charleston, SC
3 – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek – Raleigh, NC
4 – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater – Virginia Beach, VA
6 – Bethel Woods Center For The Arts – Bethel, NY
7 – Broadview Stage At SPAC – Saratoga Springs, NY
9 – BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
11 – Darien Lake Amphitheater – Buffalo, NY
13 – Four Chord Music Festival – Pittsburgh, PA (festival set)
14 – Sea Hear Now – Ashbury Park, NJ (festival set)
16 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH
17 – Ruoff Music Center – Noblesville, IN
21 – Shaky Knees – Atlanta, GA (festival set)
22 – The Orion Amphitheater – Huntsville, AL
24 – Walmart AMP – Rogers, AR
26 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – St. Louis, MO
27 – T-Mobile Center – Kansas City, MO
OCTOBER
2 – Aftershock Festival – Sacramento, CA (festival set)
4 – Acrisure Arena – Palm Desert, CA
The band are also set to play a slew of festivals this year, including See.Hear.Now, Shaky Knees and When We Were Young.
Last month, Smith was announced as the curator for the 2026 edition of the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) gig series.