Travis Barker reveals he was diagnosed with ‘esophageal precancer’ before quitting smoking
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Travis Barker revealed his doctor urged him to quit smoking immediately after his pre-cancer diagnosis
Barker said he smoked a lot of blunts and thought he might never have stopped if it weren’t for the health problem.
He previously spoke about stopping taking prescription drugs after surviving a plane crash in 2008.
Smoking is no longer an option for Travis Barker.
During an appearance on the Big Brother with Kid Cudi podcast on Wednesday, November 11, Barker and Cudi had a conversation about choosing sobriety — and the Blink-182 drummer opened up about his catalyst.
“I only quit because I was diagnosed with esophageal precancer. I loved blunts and smoked too much,” said Barker, 50, adding that he asked his doctor if it was “serious.”
“He said, ‘This is your wake-up call. Don’t do stupid things. You need to quit,'” Barker recalled.
The rocker said that without this wake-up call, he would have “never stopped.”
“I thought I could be like Willie Nelson and smoke until the day I died,” he said.
In the past, Barker has also spoken openly about how he stopped taking prescription medications after surviving a plane crash that killed four people in 2008. In an interview with Men’s healthhe remembers consuming “an excessive amount of weed.”
Travis Barker in London in October 2023
Credit: Dave Bennett/Getty Images
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“People always say to me, ‘Have you been to rehab?'” he told the outlet. “And I (said), ‘No, I was in a plane crash.’ It was my rehabilitation. Lose three of your friends and almost die? That was my wake-up call. If I hadn’t had an accident, I probably never would have given up.”
Last month, Barker revealed he had surgery because “his arm, hand and fingers were numb” after playing a show.
“I took a nerve test Monday after my show and it turned out I needed a cubital tunnel release to repair the nerve,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories.
“I wanted to get ahead and get this over with so I can continue playing the way I play for a long, long time 🥁,” Barker wrote. “It should be good in a few weeks 💪🏁.”
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