CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Tom DeLonge

American rock musician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ4270
Source-derived summary

Thomas Matthew DeLonge (; born December 13, 1975) is an American musician and songwriter best known as the co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Blink-182 across three stints (1992–2005, 2009–2015, and since 2022). He is also the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Angels & Airwaves, which he formed in 2005 after his first departure from Blink-182. DeLonge is noted for his distinctive nasal singing voice.

DeLonge received his first guitar as a child and later began writing punk rock songs. While in high school, he formed Blink-182 with bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor. They signed with Cargo Music and released their debut album, Cheshire Cat (1995), which made them popular in the local scene. Their second album, Dude Ranch (1997), was released by MCA Records and featured the hit single "Dammit". Travis Barker replaced Raynor in 1998 and the group achieved widespread success with their third album, Enema of the State (1999), which featured three hit singles; it sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and went quadruple-platinum in the U.S. The band's fourth release, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), gave them their first No. 1 album.

DeLonge and Barker experimented with post-hardcore music on the album Box Car Racer (2002), which they released under the name Box Car Racer, but the side project was dissolved the next year.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Tom DeLonge” as american rock musician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around DeLonge, American and rock.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1975, 1992, 2005, 2009—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1975-12-13. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with DeLonge, American and rock providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Tom DeLonge”, the useful work is to connect “american rock musician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4270. VIAF identifies the subject as 20902779. The Library of Congress control number is no2006055735. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975, 1992, 2005 and 2009.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Tom DeLonge”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Tom DeLonge primary sources, Tom DeLonge archive and DeLonge research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tom DeLonge”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Tom DeLonge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.