Travis Barker didn’t have time to process his mother Gloria’s death before life demanded that he keep moving.
The day after his mom died, the teenager went to high school, tried out for the band and landed on the marching band’s snare line.
What followed was an immersion in music which became his refuge after the huge loss.
The Blink-182 member recently appeared on the CNN Podcast All There Is with Anderson Cooper.
During the Thursday, August 20, episode he lifted the lid on how grief put him on the path to become an iconic drummer.
“I remember they were like, ‘you gotta get down there,’ and luckily I got down there the day she passed,” the 50-year-old recalled being by his mother’s side in her final moments before death. “And had a chance for her to say, like, ‘pursue music, I really want you to pursue music.’ I still didn’t think those were last words.”
He became emotional as he told Cooper that he went to school the day after his mom died and tried out for band, making the marching band’s snare line, “which was like a big accomplishment.”
“Joined jazz band, joined orchestra, just head down, no one to talk to, but play the drums,” Barker shared.
“It’s almost ignorant to think I could just be so blessed to have everything I have now without her and a lot of people that have passed,” he said.
For the unversed, Gloria breathed her last on September 3, 1990, after she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjögren’s syndrome.
2026-08-23 12:06:00
