Mark Hoppus Says The Cure’s Robert Smith Once Tried to Kiss Him

In his new memoir Fahrenheit-182, Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus recalls a surprising moment with one of his biggest musical influences, The Cure’s Robert Smith, that left him stunned and, in hindsight, amused.

Hoppus writes that the incident happened after a 2004 show at Wembley Arena, where Blink-182 had brought Smith onstage to perform their collaborative track “All of This.” Later that night, at an afterparty, Hoppus says Smith leaned in and tried to kiss him.

“My wife and I are like, ‘Alright, we’re out. See you later,’ and then Robert tries to kiss me,” Hoppus said in an interview with Us Weekly, adding that only members of Blink-182’s road crew witnessed it. “He was my hero. I grew up listening to this guy’s music and it changed my life forever. Then he tries to kiss me at a party and I’m like, ‘I should have done that. Why not?’ It’s a much better story than he tried to kiss me and it was awkward. It would’ve been rad to be like, ‘Yeah, made out with my hero.’”

Hoppus says he didn’t tell Smith in advance that the story would be in the book. “I should have called him or given some kind of warning or something,” he said. “But I don’t know — how do you have that conversation? ‘Hey, remember when you tried to make out with me?’ Because we’ve never addressed it.”

Despite that, Hoppus says they’ve run into each other several times since and “it’s been totally cool and nobody’s talked about it.” He clarified, “I wasn’t bummed in the slightest. I was more, like, flabbergasted that nobody else saw it.”

Fahrenheit-182, released April 8, chronicles Hoppus’ cancer battle, complicated family history, and friendship with longtime bandmate Tom DeLonge, who reunited with the band in 2022. Blink-182’s latest album, One More Time, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in October 2023 and marked their first full-length LP with the classic lineup since 2011.

The reunited band will be sharing stages with fellow punks Alkaline Trio, whose singer, Matt Skiba, filled in for DeLonge during his second hiatus from the group from 2015-2022 and recorded two albums (2016’s California and 2019’s Nine) with Hoppus and Barker. Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Friday (April 11) at 10 a.m. local time here. There will also be a Citi pre-sale beginning today at 12 p.m. ET through Thursday (April 10) at 1 p.m. local time here.