Blink-182 made headlines around the world this week with the announcement that Tom DeLonge will rejoin the band. The group’s founding guitarist/vocalist has been absent for seven years, during which time his role was filled by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio). While fans celebrated the reunion, the outgoing guitarist was notably silent, until now.

On Friday, Skiba took to Instagram for a brief statement regarding his departure from the pop-punk hitmakers. He began by congratulating his former bandmates Mark Hoppus (bass/vocals) and Travis Barker (drums) on their long-awaited reunion with DeLonge. Like many others on social media, Skiba said he’s looking forward to the band’s forthcoming new music—previewed on Friday with the appropriately sophomoric single “Edging”—writing, “I’m sure there’s a joke in here about releases and happy endings I’m missing but I am truly grateful for my time with blink and I am truly happy you guys are a band and a family again. 💕THANKS TO THE BAND AND ALL THE BLINK FANS FOR HAVING ME.”

 

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A post shared by Skiba, Matthew T. (@matttskiba)

This post came after DeLonge made a statement of his own reacting to the reunion as well as thanking Skiba for his service. According to DeLonge, “to be honest, the band would not even be here today if it were not for your ability to jump in and save the day.” DeLonge spent his time away from the band working on his other group Angels & Airwaves as well as pursuing UFOs, prompting the declassification of over 1,500 pages of related documents.

 

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A post shared by Official Tom DeLonge (@tomdelonge)

Blink-182 is set to embark on a 2023–2024 world tour set to begin in Latin America in March, coming to the U.S. that summer and headlining the second-annual When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas in October. The band on Friday released “Edging”, the first music all three members recorded together in a decade.

Blink-182 – “Edging” (Official Video)