Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus Wishes He’d ‘Made Out’ With His Hero When They Tried to Kiss Him

The adage “never meet your heroes” can really go either way. Sometimes they’re as genuine and full of goodness as you hope they are, other times they’re complete assholes and, in a few cases, they might try to kiss you.

This was how it went for Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, who says that The Cure’s Robert Smith once leaned in for a friendly peck as the punk bassist and his spouse were leaving a party. “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.”

Mark Hoppus Says He ‘Should Have’ Kissed Robert Smith

“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,” he went on to say, also noting that adding that only members of Blink-182’s road crew witnessed the moment, “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.’”

Notably, Hoppus details the story in his new memoir, Fahrenheit-182, and confessed to Us Weekly that he did not give Smith a heads up. “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.”

While the interaction left Hoppus wishing he’d handled things differently, he says that he and Sith have crossed paths a number of times since and “it’s been totally cool and nobody’s talked about it.” He then explained, “I wasn’t bummed in the slightest. I was more, like, flabbergasted that nobody else saw it.”

Blink-182 is going on tour

In addition to his new book, Hoppus will be heading out on tour with Blink-182 later this summer. See below for all dates of Blink-182’s Missionary Impossible tour:

Aug. 28 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live*
Aug. 29 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
Sep. 01 – Charleston, SC – Credit One Stadium*
Sep. 03 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek*
Sep. 04 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach*
Sep. 06 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts*
Sep. 07 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC*
Sep. 09 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion*
Sep. 11 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater*
Sep. 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Four Chord Music Festival^
Sep. 14 – Ashbury Park, NJ – Sea Hear Now^
Sep. 16 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center*
Sep. 17 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center*
Sep. 21 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees^
Sep. 22 – Huntsville, AL – The Orion Amphitheater*
Sep. 24 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP*
Sep. 26 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater*
Sep. 27 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center*
Oct. 02 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival^
Oct. 04 – Palm Desert, CA – Acrisure Arena*

• With Support from ALKALINE TRIO
  ^ Festival performance