Key Takeaways
- Travis Barker says his near-fatal 2008 plane crash, which killed four people including two friends and left him with burns over 70 percent of his body and 30 surgeries, became the "wakeup call" that made him never want to use drugs again after years of addiction fueled by touring and fear of flying.
- He recalls predicting as a 19-year-old that he would die in a plane crash, says he and the late DJ AM struggled to find support groups specific to crash survivors, and notes that AM — who later died of an overdose — was the person he most confided in about the trauma.
- Now remarried to Kourtney Kardashian, Barker says he flies "all the time" without stressing over turbulence, and is promoting his new Hulu documentary, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and chronicles this journey.
Travis Barker believes his "wakeup call" to kick drugs came after being involved in a fatal plane crash that saw two of his friends killed.
The horrific 2008 incident claimed the lives of four, while Barker and late musician Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein escaped with severe burns. The rocker would not fly again for 13 years until his now-wife, Kourtney Kardashian, convinced him to try again.
Reflecting on the traumatic incident while promoting his new documentary, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, the Blink-182 drummer told Associated Press he predicted to a manager when he was 19 years old that he would die in a plane crash.
"I have no clue where that even comes from except for flying when I was a kid and I was with my mom and I saw her terrified," Barker recounted around the 11-minute mark of the video above. "I don't know if that really had an effect on me or what it was, but my drug use started from first being able to get on planes because they scared me so much. Then to not only being afraid of flying, but I had to leave my children for long periods of time to go on tour."
Barker said that the drug abuse began while being on the road for long periods of time and that the habit "turned into addiction."
"Instead of ever going to rehab or quitting, I got into a plane accident where I nearly lost everything and I was in a burn center for six months on morphine and I had 30 surgeries," he continued. "70 percent of my body was burnt and I never wanted to touch a drug again in my life. So, I don't know if that didn't happen to me if I would still be using drugs in some way, shape, or form, but that was my wakeup call. That was my rehab."
Barker said that while he and DJ AM sought support groups, they were only able to find those enduring loss, not plane crash victims. AM later died from a drug overdose in August 2009. Barker said he was the "best person" he could confide in.
Travis Barker said that he flies "all the time now" and doesn’t register plane turbulence, while his wife is "perfectly okay" on flights.
Louder Than Fear is now available to stream on Hulu months after it made its debut at Tribeca Film Festival.
