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Blink-182 drummer Travis Landon Barker was born on November 14, 1975 in Fontana, California. Travis Barker's parents encourage them to develop some hobby and at an early age of 4 years old, his mom gifted him his first drum kit.
A year after receiving his drum kit, Travis was enrolled to a drum lesson when he was 5 years old. He may not be among the richest drummers in the world but Travis went on to become one of the most successful drummers in the late 1990s and he accumulated a massive net worth of $50 million thro ugh the course of his career.
Travis Barker's Exposure To Music
Travis trained under a drummer named Michael Mai, who later exposed him to various playing styles. During this time, Travis also developed interest in playing other musical instrument as well including trumpet, piano and he even tried singing. He later joined the madrigals men and women's choir to further enhance his singing abilities.
Aside from his musical interests, he also developed interests in professional surfing and skateboarding. But it did not pan out since Travis always wanted to hone his talents in drums. As he stated "I always migrated back to drums, though. That was the one direction that kind of felt like I was connected to and I could kind of understand. I could express myself better through my drums than I could anything else."
Travis' mother was then diagnosed with a rare disease called Sjögren syndrome and died three months later. His mom told him to keep playing music before she died. Due to coping with his mom's death, Travis admitted that he was a stoner during his high school years at the Fontana High School. While attending Fontana High School, Travis gained a lot experience playing at different events in his school. The musician ended up competing at regional competitions and even at local festivals.
Starting With The Pop Punk Bank Blink 182
As soon as Travis graduated in high school, he started working a regular job as a trash man at the Laguna Beach while also playing with the Fontana based punk rock band called Snot and Feeble. Chad Larson was the co-founder of the ska punk band with him called Aquabats that was formed in 1994.
After performing at some shows, Travis was recruited to join the band through Larson's connection. At the time, Travis was still working as a trash man while couch surfing at a friend's house. He was initially just invited to fill in the band for a few days but ended up permanently joining the band.
The band went into the studio along with the veteran producer Jim Goodwin and they soon recorded The Fury of the Aquabats! After the release of The Fury of the Aquabats in October 1997, the band went on a nationwide tour with the San Diego-based band Blink-182. At the time, Blink-182 just completed their second album titled Dude Ranch.
The following year, Blink-182's drummer, Scott Raycor, decided to leave the band for good. The remaining members of the band guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus decided to have Travis fill in the band. Travis did not have much time to prepare for the sudden opportunity but he excellently learned the band's 20 song set list in less than an hour.
Scott Raycor wanted to join the band again however the original duo decided to have Travis instead which led to some arguments. Ultimately, Travis was retained as the band's drummer.
Barker's Mainstream Success, Solo Career, And Other Business Ventures
Travis Barker was permanently hired to join Blink-182 in 1998 and in June 1999, the band released their first album with Travis Barker called Enema of the State. The album paved the way for the band's mainstream success and catapulted the band to stardom. They became the biggest pop punk band at the time.
Three songs from the said album climbed up the Top 40 on radio stations including What's My Age Again?, All The Small Things, and Adam's Song. Their album sold over 15 million copies across the world and had a massive impact on the pop punk music. The success of the band became a turning point in Travis' life. In his Rolling Stones interview in 2000, he said "Four years ago, I couldn't afford to feed myself. But now I can buy art, work on old Cadillacs, and live in comfort. I can finally buy a dog and afford to feed him."
The husband of Nutritional Gummy brand Lemme owner Kourtney Kardashian then decided to purchase a rehearsal studio and branched out into clothing line as he opened a store located in Riverside called Famous Stars and Straps. The clothing line was inspired by the pop punk and rap scene. He also started offering drum lessons and also offered Guitar Center drum clinics to his business streams. In the fall of 1999, Blink 182 went on an arena tour but Travis missed out on tour dates in 2000 since he broke his finger.
The next album released by the band were greeted with massive success titled Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. The album reached triple platinum and sold over 14 million copies across the world. The band continued their parade in the music industry until eventually announcing hiatus in 2005. The band decided to stop making music since they all wanted different paths to take.
Travis went on to pursue a solo career in 2011, three years after his plane crash incident. He's found success as a solo artist and went on to release 5 EP and about 60 singles under his own name. He recently launched his own CBD wellness line called Barker Wellness Co in 2021.
Sources: American Song Writer, MTV, Planet Radio UK
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