Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, 50, went under the knife on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to fix numbness in his arm, hand, and fingers. He told fans about it on his Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Oct. 7, after hospital photos got people worried.
“I had surgery yesterday,” Barker wrote in an Instagram Story, as shared by Billboard. “My arm, hand and fingers have been numb since a show I played last month. I did a nerve test Monday after my show and turns out I needed a cubital tunnel release to fix the nerve.”
He chose to act early. “I wanted to get ahead of it and get it over with so that I can keep playing the way I play for a long long time. Should be good in a few weeks.”
Barker also shared a photo of himself in a hospital gown and surgical cap. His wife, Kourtney Kardashian, grinned beside him. “Not sure why my wife looks so happy about this,” he wrote, per Billboard. The day before, he had posted pictures with Kardashian and with his daughter, Alabama Barker, 20. “My baby girl came with me,” he captioned the one with Alabama Barker.
A cubital tunnel release treats a pinched nerve in the elbow. Surgeons ease the pressure on the ulnar nerve. Consequence reported that healing usually takes two to three months.
Consequence also said the show Barker means may be a set at the Ramones 50th anniversary celebration at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where he played Ramones songs with Billie Joe Armstrong, Tim Armstrong, and CJ Ramone. Barker never named the show in his post.
This is not his first health scare. In 2023, he dislocated his ring finger and tore ligaments while rehearsing with Blink-182 before a tour. In 2022, severe pancreatitis, per Rolling Stone, after an endoscopy landed him in the hospital. Back in 2018, he had blood clots in both arms, a staph infection, and cellulitis.
Barker and Kardashian married in 2022. Their son, Rocky, 2, was born in November 2023.
Blink-182 is off the road for now and working on a new studio album. The band will be back on stage in June 2027 with European festival dates, among them Rock For People in Czechia, Rock im Park, Rock am Ring, and Waldbühne in Germany, plus I-Days in Italy. The run ends on June 15 at Plentitude Arena in Paris.
