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Blink-182 Drummer Travis Barker Is The Latest Celeb To Face A Nude Pic Scandal

Posted 1/19/12 11:07 am EST by in Blink-182, Travis Barker


Travis Barker

By Zachary Swickey

Celeb nudie pics hitting the Internet is nothing new with Blake Lively, Scarlett Johannsen and even Kanye himself having such incidents, and it appears Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker can now be added to that list.

It all started when website MediaTakeOut published some nude photos of an unnamed musician who had supposedly sent them to a female admirer. Unsurprisingly, readers were quickly able to discern the visible, distinctive tattoos as belonging to Barker and the pictures began circulating quickly.

While his ex-wife Shanna Moakler might be used to showing some skin (she was in Playboy), Barker isn’t thrilled with pics of his manhood spreading across the web. According to TMZ, the drummer’s lawyer, Evan Speigel, has shot off a cease and desist letter to MediaTakeOut and demanded they take the photos down for the “unauthorized use of private photos.”

Sources tell TMZ that the photographs were taken over five years ago and of course were “private and never intended for public viewing or to be seen by anyone else.” (I don’t think anyone was making the mistake of thinking Barker gifted his pics to the world.) Read More...

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Bands Look To The Past, Present And Future At KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas

Posted 12/12/11 8:59 am EST by in Blink-182, Concerts


<i>Photo by David Harrison</i>

Photo by David Harrison

By David Harrison

LOS ANGELES – Any music fan who has visited Los Angeles over the holidays must be familiar with the ambiguously-titled “Almost Acoustic Christmas,” the annual two-night concert hosted by alternative rock station KROQ. Now in its 22nd installment, Almost Acoustic Christmas has become synonymous with the biggest bands gathering at the Gibson Amphitheater to celebrate the holidays in a very un-acoustic manner. Night one’s lineup this year, however, was particularly special – it featured seven (out of eight) artists who have previously played the festival, namely headliners Blink 182, 311, Sublime with Rome, Social Distortion, Bush, New Found Glory and Chevelle.

Night one started off with a little bit of nostalgia, as New Found Glory took a moment to reminisce about the last time they performed with Blink on the 2001 "Take of Your Pants and Jacket Tour." By music industry standards, ten years is ancient history. In that time, CDs have gone the way of the dinosaurs, YouTube has launched careers and the traditional sense of radio has completely evolved (my parents have been teaching me how to use podcasts… no, I’m not embarrassed). But the cheers from the sold-out crowd at the Gibson Amphitheater on Saturday night proved that some things in rock music haven’t changed since the 1990s. Here is a (partial) list:

1. Blink-182 rocked Almost Acoustic Christmas
2. Sublime with Rome rocked Almost Acoustic Christmas
3. Social Distortion rocked Almost Acoustic Christmas

You get the idea. In fact, take Social Distortion, for example. They headlined the first Almost Acoustic Christmas ever in 1990. Saturday night, frontman Mike Ness announced, “We’re gonna play a song off the [1996] album White Light, White Heat, White Trash. A squeaky voice behind me shouted “I f**king love that album!” and I turned to see a kid in a Social D shirt who was definitely not even born when the album was released, let alone should be using that kind of potty language.

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Albums We Hope To Hear In 2011

Posted 6/23/11 10:30 am EST by in listicle


Lil Wayne

By Zachary Swickey

Talking with Zane Low on BBC Radio 1, The Killers revealed they have begun work on their fourth album. Asked if they had started writing the follow-up to ‘08’s Day & Age, frontman Brandon Flowers responded, “We have about four or five [songs]. We’ve put them up on a board and they’re sounding good. We think they’re strong.”

The Killers’ last album was ambitious and took the group’s core sound to the next level. We look forward to hearing what the guys have up their sleeve, but it got us thinking about all of the other new albums that we hope to hear before our final year on earth (2012, from what I hear). These albums are “supposed” to come out in 2011, but we’re just going to have to wait and see.

Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne

A joint album from the two biggest names in hip-hop is bound to get even the most casual fans excited. The effort was first envisioned as an EP to be released by the end of 2010. Then it graduated to a full-length album with a hopeful release date sometime in March, but as of today, it’s still “TBD.” The single that has seen the light of day, “H.A.M.”, is a solid jam from the two, but it’s not as good as the sum of their parts should be. Perhaps they realized this, and are taking their time making an album that is worthy of their talents.

Blink-182, Untitled Sixth Album

I recall Blink-182 being listed as presenters at the ‘09 Grammys and thinking, “Oh, well they’re getting back together,” which is exactly what they announced at the awards. A reunion tour soon followed that summer and the band mentioned writing a new song that they would play on the road (which they never played). Throughout the second half of 2010, Blink provided updates with hopeful release windows that have all come and gone. They canceled their European tour for this summer, because the album is still incomplete. The group has until July 31 to hand their work over to Geffen Records, and since they’re headlining the Honda Civic Tour with My Chemical Romance later this summer, it better be ready.

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV

It hasn’t been all that long since we’ve heard from Lil Wayne – it never is, considering he guest appears on every other rapper’s song (I’m counting 13 so far in ’11). He released two albums in 2010, neither of which were particularly well-received (compared to his past work), but neither of those were bearing the banner Tha Carter either. Weezy’s The Carta IV is sure to wow us and be the best thing we’ve heard in rap since Kanye’s Dark Twisted Fantasy. It will likely feature some other huge names in hip-hop, like Drake, Rick Ross and Yeezy himself. After 3-4 delays, the current “hopeful” release date is August 29. Fingers crossed!

Read on for more. Read More...

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Blink-182's Mark Hoppus Looks To The Fans For March Madness Help: The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 3/29/11 2:30 pm EST by in Music


"There's no home-team advantage for anybody, so we really need the support of our fans to come out, vote for us, give us that extra energy we need on the court to come up with this win, because it's going to be a hard one. I gotta be honest: I love Green Day. They're all great guys, so it's going to come down to the fans."

-Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, running down the match-up between his band and Green Day in the MTV Musical March Madness Sweet 16. Hoppus sat down with MTV News' James Montgomery to talk about the showdown between the two California punk titans — a match that has remained close.

Hoppus has scouted his opponents well. "It's a really strong matchup. Each of them is amazing at their game," Hoppus said. "Billie [Joe Armstrong], he's always a team leader, always boxing out, always getting the tough scores. So, really, we're going to have to cover Billie as best as we can. I think that Travis [Barker] has Tre [Cool] pretty well covered. Me and Mike [Dirnt] I'd say is a dead heat. It's going to be who wants it more, for sure."

The bassist also noted that his team may be at a disadvantage even though they hold the higher seed. "Coming off of this break, before coming into this tournament, our live game is a little off right now, so we've been working on that a lot," he said. "Green Day obviously, they have their new [live] album, so they have their road chops up, so it's gonna be rough ... we're going to have to bring our best game for sure."

MTV's Musical March Madness is currently in the Sweet 16, and voting closes on all of the match-ups in the round on Tuesday, March 29 at midnight.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Blink-182 Vs. Green Day

Posted 3/28/11 12:00 pm EST by in Music


It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The Sweet 16 has created some truly awesome head-to-head pairings, including the second one in the West region. Which one of these two titans will move on and which one will go home? It should be a slobberknocker, so be sure to check it out.

Voting for all Sweet 16 match-ups will close on Tuesday, March 29 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(2) Blink-182 vs. (3) Green Day
In what is possibly the biggest of all the Sweet 16 match-ups, Green Day take an incredible amount of momentum into their confrontation with Blink-182. Billie Joe Armstrong and the boys got past Adam Lambert and then engaged in a knock-down, drag-out battle with former collaborators U2 to get to this point. Meanwhile, Blink-182 topped All Time Low and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their way to the Sweet 16, both of whom proved to be able adversaries. Which icons of California punk will find themselves in the Elite Eight? It's up to you!

Check out Dick Bagwell and Vincent Twice previewing the Sweet 16!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Blink-182 Vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Posted 3/23/11 4:30 pm EST by in Music


It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

There are now officially two regions open in the second round of MTV's Musical March Madness. Every single one of the bands in the West can win, including the two acts below.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(2) Blink-182 vs. (7) Red Hot Chili Peppers
In the midst of some good-natured ribbing and the spirit of healthy competition, Blink-182 toppled their pals in All Time Low in a thrilling first round collision. In the second round, they have to stare down Red Hot Chili Peppers, the veteran act who managed to topple Death Cab for Cutie despite the fact that they haven't released any new music since 2006's double album Stadium Arcadium. Of course, Blink-182's last new album was in 2003, so there's an even playing field in this match-up. Which one will advance? You decide!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Red Hot Chili Peppers Vs. Death Cab For Cutie, Blink-182 Vs. All Time Low

Posted 3/15/11 3:30 pm EST by in Music


It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The West bracket has been pretty lively, with many of the tournament favorites making plenty of big noise. Here are the last of the match-ups for the West, so keep voting and tune in tomorrow for the South bracket.

As always, first round voting continues through Sunday night (March 20), and you can catch up with any match-ups you might have missed here.

(7) Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. (10) Death Cab for Cutie
In this particular portion of the bracket, we have two tried and true workhorses who have been a little quiet as of late but who are both about to come back with a vengeance. You'll hear new music from both Red Hot Chili Peppers and Death Cab for Cutie in 2011, and they each have a deep well of hits to carry them through this tournament. Which one moves on?

(2) Blink-182 vs. (15) All Time Low
Despite the fact that their comeback album has been stalled for a while, the individual members of Blink-182 are so productive and successful that they are able to keep their brand name healthy even after the hiatus. But All Time Low are riding high on the success of their 2009 album Nothing Personal and are about to hit the rock world hard again with Dirty Work. Will the teachers stay strong over the students? Vote away!

Watch Dick Bagwell and Vincent Twice break down this year's bracket!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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Blink-182's New Album Is Coming Soon: The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 2/16/11 4:30 pm EST by in Music


"I think we'll turn in our album in June or July, honestly, and, I mean, the stuff's awesome. It's coming close, to the point where these are completed songs and they're not going to change. These are album versions."

-Blink-182 drummer and solo artist Travis Barker, noting that the long-awaited Blink-182 reunion album should be completed some time this summer. Following a four year hiatus as a group, the band got back together in 2009 for a string of well-received tour dates. But though they've been talking about a new album for several years, it appears as though it's finally happening.

Of course, the main reason for the delay has been because all three members of Blink-182 are in demand and have very active lives outside of the band. Barker, for example, has a new solo album called Give the Drummer Some that he has been working on for a while and contains guest appearances from some of the biggest names in hip-hop and rock, including Tom Morello, Raekwon, the RZA, Slash, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, the Game and Swizz Beatz.

Barker told MTV News that the stars are finally aligning for the three members of Blink-182 to focus on the album. "You know, it's hard, because we would get home from a tour, and then Tom [DeLonge]'s side project would go out, his side project comes back, he's back now, he's ready to get in the lab, [and] I'm about to say, 'Peace out, I'm about to do my thing.' So it's like, when we're in a room together for more than a month or two, it's gonna really happen," he said. "I mean, up until the last album, every album was written in a week. All of us had ideas, we would come, we would get into a room, [and] we'd go, 'OK, you want to write the album?' And we'd write those songs, and then we'd record them the next week. Now ... we all have studios, we all have the luxury of staying home and doing it, and we don't have to get into a room to get an idea out or pay for a studio. So a lot of it's going down. Like, we're working in separate studios, just really kind of working on music."

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Spotted: Blink-182 Express Themselves At Reading

Posted 8/30/10 12:30 pm EST by in Music


Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

The summer music festival season may have closed up shop here in America, but over the weekend, one of the biggest events on the British music calendar went down in a big way. The Reading Festival, a three-day event in Reading, England, has long been one of the hugest events of the summer in the U.K. (it's second only to the jaw-droppingly gigantic Glastonbury Festival). This year's festival included most every heavy hitter on the international rock scene, including Guns N' Roses, Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, Weezer and Blink-182, who continued their reunion tour victory lap with an explosive set that closed out the festival on Sunday night (August 29). Guitarist Tom DeLonge seemed to be enjoying himself, even as he flipped the bird to the audience midway through the group's high-energy set (which featured some stout versions of all of the band's biggest hits).

They weren't the only stars getting out among the people, as the biggest names in television (including the casts of "Glee," "True Blood" and "Mad Men") descended on Los Angeles for the 2010 Emmy Awards and Spike Lee spoke to thousands of revelers in Brooklyn, New York in celebration of the late Michael Jackson's birthday. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted" archive, which features nearly 500 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Madonna and Eminem!

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MTV News' #MusicMonday: Travis Barker Wins With Big Boi

Posted 8/16/10 10:30 am EST by in Music


Really, you should be listening to music every day, but thanks to Twitter, Monday has become the best day of the week to discover new songs, show some love to the tune currently dominating your iPod playlist and quietly judge the listening habits of your closest friends. Yes, it's #MusicMonday, one of Twitter's most enduring trending topics. Hence "MTV News' #MusicMonday," a weekly look at the songs your favorite stars are currently crushing on.

This week, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker endorses Big Boi's latest masterpiece.

Though Travis Barker is best known as the guy who keeps the time for pop-punk icons Blink-182, his musical endeavors have stretched far wider than that. He has worked with a number of hip-hop artists (including Paul Wall, Soulja Boy, Drake, Black Eyed Peas and Bun B), ventured into the world of dance music (his collaborations with the late DJ AM) and put together a number of eclectic collaborations in between. So it shouldn't be surprising that when it comes to listening to music himself, Barker has been spinning one of the most eclectic albums of 2010.

"I'm listening to the new Big Boi album non-stop," Barker told MTV News during a visit, which also saw him sit in on a freestyle with Fat Joe on MTV News' "RapFix Live." "He just makes great music. He's a great rapper, there's great production on the album. It's win-win."

Big Boi's new album Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty is one of the most talked-about hip-hop full-lengths of the year. Long in the making, the album contains the killer single "Shutterbugg" as well as production from Organized Noize and fellow Outkast member Andre 3000 as well as guest spots from T.I., B.o.B, George Clinton and Jamie Foxx.

What's your #MusicMonday jam? Let us know in the comments!

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