Tom DeLonge
Thomas Matthew DeLonge (/dəˈlɒŋ/; born December 13, 1975) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Blink-182 across three stints: 1992 to 2005, 2009 to 2015, and again since 2022. He is also the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Angels & Airwaves, which he formed in 2005 after his first departure from Blink-182. DeLonge is noted for his distinctive nasal singing voice.
Tom DeLonge
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- author
- filmmaker
- actor
- entrepreneur
1992–present
2
- Vocals
- guitar
- keyboards
- bass
DeLonge received his first guitar as a child and later began writing punk rock songs. While in high school, he formed Blink-182 with bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor. They signed with Cargo Music and released their debut album, Cheshire Cat (1995), which made them popular in the local scene. Their second album, Dude Ranch (1997), was released by MCA Records and featured the hit single "Dammit". Raynor was replaced by Travis Barker in 1998 and the group achieved widespread success with their third album, Enema of the State (1999), which featured three hit singles; it sold upwards of 15 million copies worldwide and went quadruple-platinum in the U.S. The band's fourth release, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), gave them their first No. 1 album.
DeLonge and Barker experimented with post-hardcore music on the album Box Car Racer (2002), which they released under the name Box Car Racer, but the side project was dissolved the following year. Blink-182's untitled fifth album, also known eponymously as Blink-182 (2003), reflected a change in tone within the group; two years later, following internal tension spearheaded by DeLonge, the band broke up for a few years.[1] DeLonge then formed Angels & Airwaves, which has since released five albums and has evolved into what he calls an "art project" encompassing various forms of media.
Outside of music, DeLonge has founded companies such as Macbeth Footwear, which sells vegan and organic clothing; Modlife, which sells technology designed to help artists monetize their creations; and To the Stars, which is dedicated to the exploration of fringe science. He scored and produced the sci-fi film Love (2011), has multiple film projects in development, and wrote the children's book The Lonely Astronaut on Christmas Eve (2013).
Musical style
Vocal style
DeLonge's distinctive nasal singing style and accent has been widely observed, celebrated, and mocked.[80] Julia Gray, a writer for Vulture, termed it "the Tom DeLonge Twang, [which] contorted words like things ("theeeengs") and my head ("myy'eaad") into a cartoonish California diction."[81] DeLonge's singing style on "I Miss You"–particularly his verse lyrics "Where are you / and I'm so sorry", or pronunciation of the word head[82]—has been widely referenced throughout popular culture, and is considered something of a meme.[83][84][85] DeLonge stated he developed the style in an attempt to sound like Milo Aukerman of the Descendents.[86] "It’s really hard to make [singing] sound good when you’re not even doing it right to begin with, you know?" he joked in 2019.[87]
The style was studied by Stanford University's linguistics professor Penelope Eckert in an article for Atlas Obscura. Eckert determined DeLonge's pronunciations are a result of the California Shift, a regional chain shift that joins vowels and emphasizes words ending in "R". In the same article, Christopher Appelgren, former president of Golden State-based Lookout! Records, suggested the nasal style emerged as an amateur way to cut through the loudness of being in a punk band.[88] David Anthony, writer for The A.V. Club, observes it could stem from a long line of punk singers affecting an accent: "Whether it be Johnny Rotten's snarl or Joe Strummer's overt Britishness, these kinds of exaggerated singing styles have been present from the genre’s birth."[89]
Some writers have suggested DeLonge has consciously moved away from the nasal style throughout his career, particularly in the 2010s.[90] Gray of Vulture observed that his "patented wail [became] newly deep and warbly,"[81] while Patrick Doyle from Rolling Stone called it "way different." In response, DeLonge agreed and said the change came upon starting Angels & Airwaves: "The tempo was slower, the melodies were written differently. And then, rather than nasally staccato, it became more like [a] violin, more like a stringed instrument. The notes flow together. And then it came naturally to me. [...] It’s the only way I know how to sing now."[87]
Personal life
In 1996, DeLonge began dating Jennifer Jenkins, whom he had known since high school.[122] They were married in Coronado, California, on May 26, 2001.[123] The band Jimmy Eat World performed at the reception and DeLonge gave each groomsman, including Mark Hoppus, silver yo-yos from Tiffany's.[123] The couple had a daughter and a son, before divorcing in 2019.[124]
DeLonge married his girlfriend, Rose-Marie Berryman, in May 2021.[125]