Travis Barker is crediting Kourtney Kardashian with helping him move beyond one of the darkest chapters of his life.
Speaking at the world premiere of his documentary, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, during the Tribeca Film Festival, the Blink-182 drummer said his relationship with the reality star gave him the confidence to confront fears that had haunted him for years following the devastating 2008 plane crash that nearly claimed his life.
During an interview with E! News, Barker explained that falling in love with Kardashian changed the trajectory of his recovery. “Falling in love again, my wife gave me so much hope to where I ended up flying again,” he said. “And believed that I could do it, and now my kids fly. It's just insane.”
He also pointed to his children as a major source of strength, adding, “The power of love is amazing. My kids were my strength from the time they existed.”
Barker's comments carry extra weight considering the trauma he endured. In 2008, a private jet carrying the musician crashed after a tire failure during takeoff, killing four people, including his close friend Chris Baker, security guard Charles Still, and both pilots. Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein were the only survivors.
Barker suffered third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body and underwent 26 surgeries to reconstruct his body after the crash. Less than a year later, Goldstein died from an accidental drug overdose, intensifying Barker’s survivor’s guilt.
The drummer has spoken openly about the emotional scars left behind. “I was dark,” Barker said back in 2021. “I couldn’t walk down the street. If I saw a plane, I was determined it was going to crash.”
He explained that the memories of trying to escape the burning aircraft and save his friends “haunted” him for years.
Those experiences influenced much of Barker’s life, including his battle with addiction and his refusal to fly for more than a decade. He relied on buses and boats for travel until 2021, when he boarded a plane again alongside Kourtney Kardashian.
Therapy and the passage of time also played a role in his recovery. “It’s gotten better the further I get away from it,” he said. “There are days when I’ll wake up and never think about it.”
He also survived another frightening accident in 2018 when a school bus ran a red light and destroyed his vehicle, though he escaped with minor injuries.
Barker has chronicled many of those struggles in his memoir, Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums.
