Much to the dismay of Blink-182 fans, Travis Barker won't be joining the pop-punk band on tour in Australia. Barker, the famed drummer of the group, said that his fear of flying is holding him back.
In 2008, the 37-year old suffered from a tragic plane crash in which two of his best friends died. He was in a private plane that burst into flames after takeoff. Of the six people that were on the flight, only he and his friend, the late DJ Adam Goldstein, survived. His assistant and security guard along with both pilots died while Travis suffered from serious injuries and burns.
Barker apologized to his fans via Facebook and gave the band his permission to hire a stand-in drummer for the tour. He wrote:
"I'm sorry to announce i won't be joining Blink-182 on this Australian tour. I still haven't gotten over the horrific events that took place the last time i flew when my plane crashed and 4 people were killed, two being my best friends. I gave the band my blessing to take another drummer if they still wanted to do the tour without me. I hope to come to Australia again some day perhaps by ship if need be. Unfortunately, there wasn't a boat that worked with the schedule this time around. Once again I'm sorry to all the fans."
Barker was hoping to travel to the continent by ship, however he had a conflict with his schedule. The band confirmed on Facebook that Barker will be replaced on the tour by Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion and Tenacious D..
The band also added that they "knew the chances of Travis overcoming his fear of flying, which was magnified after the horrible plane crash of 2008, would be a challenge, but [they] wanted to play for [their] fans in Australia nonetheless."
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