Blink-182 Drummer Travis Barker will be performing at WWE Wrestlemania on Sunday alongside Skylar Grey and Kid Ink. He’s known for a while but was never clear on what he was going to be performing… Until this morning that is.
“I just got the music that I’m playing!” he laughs. “Kid Ink and Skylar are both really great friends of mine, and about a month ago, Skylar was like ‘You know, I might be playing WrestleMania, would you play with me?’ and I was like ‘Of course.’ Then, like a week later, Ink hits me and he’s like ‘I’m playing WrestleMania, would you be down?’ and I’m like ‘I think I’m already going to be there!’ So I knew something was up.”
So, as it turns out, on Sunday night, Barker will be providing the drums to a medley of David Guetta‘s “Rise” – which, in addition to being this year’s WrestleMania theme song, also features vocals from Grey – with Ink’s “Money and the Power.” And for a guy who’s built a career out of hard-hitting beats, not only does the collaboration make complete sense, but the stage is pretty perfect, too.
“I grew up watching wrestling with my pops, and now I get to be there, rocking at WrestleMania,” Barker says. “I loved the Iron Sheik, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and George ‘The Animal’ Steele as a kid, and when I was in the Aquabats, it was kind of like me getting to live that pro-wrestling life; we were masked superheroes. Then, like a decade ago in hip-hop, there was this era of good guys and bad guys.
“Now, I have so many friends that love it, grown men, our kids – I’ve been to events where dudes are in their 30s or 40s, shouting ‘Kick his ass!’ It’s bigger than life, man,” he adds. “And when you take that, then add songs like ‘Money and the Power’ and ‘Rise’ to the mix, you take a situation that’s all ready turned up and make it wild.”
“When I was a kid, I went to an event in San Bernardino [California] with my pops, and Junkyard Dog was wrestling, and he walked by me and I got to touch him,” he laughs. “That was a pivotal moment right there, I was like ‘This is the most amazing thing ever!’ And I’m going to get to feel like a kid again.”
We at Rebellious Noise can’t wait for WrestleMania ourselves, and to see Travis performing will surely just add to the spectacle.