text: Blink-182's next effort, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), was greeted with immediate success, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and going triple platinum within three weeks (the record eventually sold in excess of 14 million copies worldwide).
  In 2001, Barker married Melissa Kennedy, but the two divorced in August 2002 after nine months of marriage. Following a cancelled European tour, DeLonge went back to San Diego to record an album he deemed an experiment in ideas he felt weren't suited to Blink-182. DeLonge, not wanting to pay for a studio drummer, simply asked Barker to step in and perform on the record, called Box Car Racer. The experiment became a full-time band and toured in 2002, which led to strained relations between DeLonge and Hoppus.
  Through a connection with Jerry Finn, Rancid vocalist Tim Armstrong contacted Barker in the summer of 2002 to record tracks for a rap/rock collaboration called the Transplants. For his role on the Transplants record, Rolling Stone called Barker "punk rock's first superstar drummer." He also began appearing in music videos, including Puff Daddy's "Bad Boy for Life," as well as adding to his collection of vintage Cadillacs. Blink-182 released their fifth, untitled album in 2003, which marked a more mature direction. Shortly before the album's completion, Barker's girlfriend, ex-Miss USA Shanna Moakler, gave birth to their son, Landon Asher, in October 2003.