And we think that is totally great. It appears, however, that we might be in the minority, at least according to this Sun article that claims fans are done with the couple’s frequent PDA. The final straw was Barker’s (over?)sharing this tidbit on TikTok:
“Fun fact, my wife and I invented edging.”
That is a fun fact. It’s also probably a “wrong” fact (we’re pretty sure that high school in general engendered the delightful horror of edging), but we aren’t going to hold it against Travis when he has so much on his mind. And in his hands. And on his lap.
According to E!, Barker’s attorneys have filed a negligence lawsuit against both the owner and the manufacturer of the Learjet that crashed on September 19. The court documents claim that “one or more of the tires failed, leaving tire debris and portions of airplane components along the 8,600 foot runway.” The pilot is accused of making a “negligent attempt to abort the takeoff,” and a number of the plane’s parts and components are alleged to have been “not airworthy.”
We’ll keep you updated—Perry Mason like—as details unfold.
It’s been only a couple of months since Travis Barker survived a plane crash and was seriously burned, but he’s already back in the studio and playing drums. He made the announcement today on MTV’s Total Request Live (which finally and mercifully has gone the way of the dodo). Barker said, “I’m already playing my drums again….It was like riding a bike. It was really exciting to know I still have my chops. It still felt good. I still can make it around the kit. Everything felt right, so I’m thankful to be able to play.”
Shit yeah! Check out the complete interview below.
[Update 2022: the original vid from 2008 on MTV appears to be out of circulation, but we’ve embedded to newer material below where Travis talks about his experience surviving the crash. Harrowing, life-altering stuff.]
The National Transportation Safety Board released some of its findings today about what caused the crash that seriously injured Travis Barker. According to People, the “aircraft’s wheels had very little rubber remaining and its brakes were severely damaged.” The investigation is ongoing. We’ll keep you updated as more information is available.
Barker has updated his MySpace blog with news about his condition and a few pics from his hospital stay. The post includes a remembrance of his friends Chris and Che; many thank-yous to friends, family, and fans for their support; extra double-special thank-yous to all the doctors and nurses who have treated him; and—most surprising—a not-so-subtle dig at Shanna Moakler (“Despite any rumors you might have heard via my EX-wife Shanna Moakler, who I have not seen since the week I checked in…”). Travis also writes a bit about his recovery process:
Like the doctors said from the beginning, its been a slow recovery process. I am coming up on the 7th of my surgeries Monday. Today I finally was able to move all my fingers on my right hand. Every step seems huge at this point, and Im doing EVERYTHING I can possibly do to get back to my kids. Yes, I did start eating meat again, but if it helps me to be home holding my little humans sooner, then its all worth it.
Limited-edition T-shirts honoring Chris Baker and Charles “Che” Still will be sold by Travis Barker’s clothing site, Famous Stars and Straps, starting October 13. The shirt was designed by pro skateboarder and Famous Stars manager Felix Arguelles and artist Maxx “maxx242″ Gramajo. All proceeds will go to Baker’s and Still’s families.
Travis Barker and current music-making partner DJ AM were seriously injured in a plane crash last night. The pair had just performed a free show for South Carolina college students and were flying back to Van Nuys, California.
Officials said the plane carrying six people was departing shortly before midnight Friday when air traffic controllers reporting seeing sparks. The plane hurtled off the end of a runway and crashed through antennas and a fence. It came to rest on an embankment across a five-lane highway and was engulfed in flames….
The four other people aboard— the pilot, the copilot, Barker’s personal assistant, and his security guard—did not survive the crash. Both Travis and DJ AM are currently in critical condition at a burn center the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia. We’ll keep you updated as more details are released. Below are other links related to the accident:
AP report and photos. [Update 2022: unfortunately, many of these links are no longer active.]
CNN report.
MSNBC video report with photos of the crash [ad alert].
MTV report with reactions from Barker’s and DJ AM’s families.
Update [from the MSNBC report]: One witness reported seeing “two men thrown from the plane, dumped on the highway, on fire.” The witness then reported that the men were “patting each other down and stripping off their clothes because they were burning.” The men may have been were Travis and DJ AM.
Update [from the WIS News 10 report]: Eyewitness William Owens said, “I didn’t know what I had seen—it was maybe 800 feet in front of me, but as I approached it closer though I made out a fire. By then I was able to see the tail of the jet and I recognized it as a jet….It’s in flames and the fuel is running across the road and I had to cross the fuel to get to the two guys that seemed to have been dumped on the highway….” According to the report, “the two men were in the road trying to extinguish themselves. He [Owens] then asked the men if there was anyone else on board the plane and they said four more were with them.”
Update [from TMZ]: “Sources tell us Travis Barker and DJ AM saved their own lives after their plane crashed by jumping out the door of the burning plane, almost immediately after the small jet came to a halt.”
Update [from Stupid Celebrities]: “Travis Barker is said to be severely burned from the waist down, but expected to survive. DJ AM has severe burns on his face, which are being tended to currently. Sad news, Chris Baker, Travis Barker’s assistant died in the plane crash. To make this bad news worse, Chris Baker, 29, had recently married and has a new baby.” This information appears to have originated from TMZ.
Update [again from TMZ]: A publicist for Barker and DJ AM released the following statement: “Both Travis Barker and Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) are in critical but stable condition and are being treated at Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia after surviving a plane crash late last night in Columbia, South Carolina. The hospital will issue a statement with an update on their condition at 9:00 am eastern time tomorrow. Due to the nature of the injuries and the evolving course of treatment no further information on their condition is available at this time.”
Update 9/21/08 [from MTV]: Doctors treating Travis and DJ AM stated today that both men are expected to make a full recovery. Travis has second- and third-degree burns on his torso; DJ AM has second- and third-degree burns on his head and arms. Well-wishers can show their support by going to Doctors-Hospital.net, clicking on “Visitors,” and then “Email a Patient.”
Update 9/21/08 [from Perez Hilton]: PH is quoting insiders as saying that Travis’s fighting spirit was intact after the crash and that he was “defiant after the accident and didn’t want to be lifted in a helicopter, but rather an ambulance, so they had to knock him out.”
Update 9/21/08 [from E!]: The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, but a member of the National Transportation Safety Board has stated that the plane’s crew members thought a tire burst as they started down the runway.
Update 9/21/08 [from WIS 10 News]: “Barker and Goldstein [DJ AM] remain in critical, but stable condition. Doctors say both men should be able to return to performing after they have healed from their burns in a year.”
Update 9/22/08 [via Stupid Celebrities]: Video and audio recorded at the crash site have been released. It’s believed that Travis is the man pleading for an ambulance. Very unpleasant to hear, so listener beware.
Update 9/22/08 [from Us]: Shanna Moakler, Barker’s ex-wife, released the following statement today: “There are not enough words to express how thankful we are for the outpouring of love and support we have received during this very difficult time. We can only ask for prayers as we heal and mourn the loss of our dear friends who we considered part of our family. Our lives will be changed forever.” Rapper Jermaine Dupri visited Barker over the weekend and said, “He’s doing good…but I really hate to see my friends go through this.”
Update 9/22/08 [again from Us]: It appears that authorities are still focusing on a faulty tire as the cause of the crash. Goodyear, the manufacturer of the tire, released the following statement: “We have been contacted by the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] and will cooperate fully with its investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this accident.”
Update 9/23/08 [from MTV]: Travis Barker is trying to remain upbeat after multiple surgeries for the second- and third-degree burns on his torso and lower body. Lieutenant Josh Shumpert of the South Congaree, South Carolina, police department provided the following information about the post-crash events: “[Barker and AM] told me that they slid down the wing on the right side of the plane. They said they were on fire and that they tackled each other and put each other out. When I got there they were on the side of the road. They were pacing and in shock. Travis was very shaken up.”
Update 9/24/08: Video from the first police officer at the crash site.
Update 9/24/08 [from Extra]: Copy of the 911 call placed at the crash site.
Update 9/24/08 [from Yahoo!]: This report provides more information from the first police officer, Lt. Jason Shumpert, who first arrived on the scene. “Travis, you could tell he was in pain,” Shumpert said. “He just kept saying: ‘That’s my friends in the plane, that’s my friends in the plane.’”
Update 9/25/08: The following quote is making the rounds on various rumor sites but should at this time be considered unconfirmed info: “From what we’re hearing, Travis Barker is a hero. When the doomed plane started hurtling about, Travis and DJ AM were sitting in the front seats. They turned around and saw a ball of fire roaring in the back of the plane and watched in horror as it engulfed their friends seated in the back. Travis realized what was coming and he pushed the door open and grabbed DJ AM and pulled him out of the moving plane. They were both on fire and ran screaming as fast and as far from the fiery plane as they could. DJ AM can’t sleep and somehow is able to text friends in spite of his hand burns. He’s worried about his scalp being burned off. Travis is quiet—he’s on more painkillers.”
Update 9/25/08 [from Contact Music]: DJ AM returned to Los Angeles today by bus. No word yet on when Barker will be released.
Update 9/26/08 [from SPIN]: Travis’s friend and business partner Jermaine Dupri said that the drummer would most likely be released from the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in “about two weeks.” DJ AM returned to LA yesterday.
Update 9/29/08 [from Yahoo!]: Travis was released today from the Joseph M. Still Burn Center. One source also told People, “He’s on a bus headed to L.A. Trust me, he will never fly again—ever.”
Update 9/30/08: The New York Post has incurred some wrath (and, predictably, a whole lot of pageviews) for its recent headline about Barker taking the bus back to LA: “Fear of Frying.”
Update 10/3/08: The latest rumors (beware of extremely irritating floaty ad if you click on the link) suggest Travis may have been admitted to the burn center at USC and is suffering from serious burns on over 50% of his body.
Update 10/6/08 [from MTV]: Tom DeLonge speaks about Barker’s accident: “Just like you guys, I was freaked out about the entire thing….Everyone wanted to know what I think, but it’s not about me. It’s not about Tom at all, and it’s not about Blink at all. It’s about Travis and his family, so stop worrying about what I think, and what I feel, and what I’m going to say, because it doesn’t matter.”
Update 10/7/08 [from AP]: Barker gave an interview to US Weekly: “I hate planes….My biggest fear ever is to be involved in a plane crash, so when that happened … well, I’m just thankful to be alive! I’m just grateful to be here at all.” He then continued, “I am doing the best I can possibly be….I’m so anxious to get out of here. … I’ve just been in surgery after surgery. I have third-degree burns basically from my feet up to my waist and both hands. One of my hands has second-degree burns and one has third-degree burns.”
The Los Angeles Timescaught up with Travis Barker to chat about his explosive entry into the world of hip-hop and remixes. In case you’ve been unplugged for the last year, it all started with a video posted on YouTube, a slamming version of Travis drumming to Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” With 17.5 million views under his sticks, Barker has become the go-to drummer for other hip-hop-oriented artists as well, including in-demand turntablist DJ AM. The two have joined forces as TRV$DJAM and will be putting out an album (!) and touring.
Diving even deeper into the land of hip-hop, Barker is now working with Wale on a track called “G Told Me.” The good bits (i.e., those with the drums) start around 1:38 in the vid below. Yet again, Trav is beating the hell out of some Zildjian Pitch Blacks, and surprisingly they don’t sound entirely terrible. Maybe he has the special prototype pro line?….
Participants ask that the Gumball be referred to as a “rally,” but it’s really pretty much a race—a 3,000-mile race on public roads. Sound dangerous? Don’t be such a wussy: only a couple of people have died so far.
The race (er, rally) was founded in 1999 by former model Maximillion Cooper (awesome name, by the way), and the drivers are generally well-to-do car fanatics (e.g., just the entry fee for this year’s Gumball was about $120,000). Along with David Hasselhoff, Orlando Bloom, and Tara Reid, the celeb drivers in the 2008 race include Travis Barker, who we expect to burn some serious rubber as the representative for all thumperkind. We’ll be scouring the Web for pics of Trav in his vehicle, which we’re betting is a muscle car with Zildjian Pitch Black logos. Let us know if you got the goods.
We promise this isn’t a site devoted solely to his Travness, but dude is constantly in the news lately. He recently spoke with Metromix Los Angeles about the X Games and his future drumming plans. Surprise, surprise: Blink-182 ain’t much in the cards.
You know, to be honest with you, I haven’t spoken to Tom [DeLonge] in five years. I speak to Mark [Hoppus] every day, he’s one of my greatest friends, so…that’s the status of that. I think everyone would have to be friends, and I think we’d all have to want to do it in order for it to happen.
The big T recently sat down with Young Hollywood for a 2:45 interview. It’s billed as a think-piece in which Trav “tells us all about his music, family, and fashion sense,” but it’s really pretty much about his tattoos, always the hallmark of a great drummer. The one interesting bit—completely missed by the interviewer—comes when Barker is asked about his plans for the future:
Last month, we posted a video of Barker drumming on Busta Rhymes’s “Don’t Touch Me,” but YouTube promptly took it down. It’s now back up on MySpaceTV. Check it out below while you can. The vid quality is a bit poorer than usual, so it looks like Trav is pulling a Gadd by playing with four sticks. Rest assured, however, that Barker ain’t that cool.
Update 2022: Ah, yes, it is back on YouTube and embedded below for your listening and looking pleasure.
