Hoppus took to Instagram on Sunday to show his bald head for the first time since cancer announcement
The 49-year-old bassist and vocalist of blink-182, Mark Hoppus, has posted on social media that he’s been diagnosed with cancer. He’s also shared that for the past three months he has been actively undergoing chemotherapy. The musician has been sick for a while now, which isn’t news for the other band members, but it came as a surprise to many blink-182 fans.
Hoppus has underlined that he’s staying positive and hopeful, even though there are months of cancer treatment ahead:
“For the past three months I’ve been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer,” he explained.
“I have cancer. It sucks and I’m scared, and at the same time I’m blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this. I still have months of treatment ahead of me, but I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive. Can’t wait to be cancer free and see you all at a concert in the near future. Love to you all.”
The musician didn’t mention what type of cancer he’s suffering from or the stage it was diagnosed at. But a bit over a week ago, when hosting a Twitch stream, he detailed how his treatment has been going over the past few days:
“I feel much better than yesterday,” he opened up. “Yesterday was hellish for me, and I woke up today feeling better, and I went for a walk, and I had a decent breakfast, and I haven’t felt like I was going to throw up today, so we’ll take it as a win.”
Answering a question about his chemotherapy treatment, he said: “It’s going good, I hope. I mean, it’s making me sick. And I will say though that this round of chemo, I feel better than I have before. The only thing is that this round, I’ve been more nauseous, which I don’t like.”
Though Hoppus doesn’t leave his house much these days, he explains that this round of chemotherapy hasn’t turned him into a zombie, like the ones before:
“But this round of chemo, I wasn’t totally stuck on the couch, miserable. I’ve actually watched movies and walked around and cleaned the house and hung out with my dogs. And I didn’t just feel like a poisoned, electrified zombie leaned up against an electric fence like I did the past couple rounds.”
Nevertheless, being housebound is quite a torture for blink-182 musician: “I can’t go anywhere right now,” he admitted. “I wanted to go to the Dodgers game last night—I can’t. I want to go hang out with friends and go to a restaurant—I can’t. My white blood cell count is way too low for me to go out, so I am stuck trying to get better.”
On July 2, Hoppus summarised on Twitter, “Everything about chemo sucks except the part where it hopefully saves my life.” But he’s staying as optimistic as one can be in such a state: “Can’t wait to be cancer free and see you all at a concert in the hopefully near future. Love to you all”.
The bald-headed picture Hoppus has posted on social media on July 4 comes with the heroic caption: “The Cancer Haver wishes you all a very happy Fourth of July weekend.”
Blink-182’s Travis Barker wrote “Love you @markhoppus,” on his Instagram story. He also told E! News: “Mark is my brother, and I love and support him. I will be with him every step of the way onstage and off and can’t wait for us to play together again soon.” Mark’s ex-bandmate, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, called Hoppus “a super-human” in his Twitter post:
“I too, have been aware of @markhoppus’s cancer diagnosis for awhile now,” wrote DeLonge. “And to add to his own words that he used today, I would also like to say that he is strong, and a super-human who is pushing through this difficult obstacle with a wide-open heart. #WeHaveHisBack”
The music scene rushed to support the blink-182 member after the “bald” Instagram post: “You look awesome. love you mark,” commented Twenty One Pilots drummer Josh Dun. You can see the expressions of support and speedy recovery wishes to Hoppus from musicians all over the world below, starting from Taking Back Sunday and finishing with Papa Roach.
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