Travis Barker is pulling back the curtain on the darkest chapters of his life - from the horrific plane crash that nearly killed him to the family that helped him finally face one of his greatest fears.
The Blink-182 drummer, 50, is revisiting his extraordinary journey in the new documentary Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, and while there is plenty of rock 'n' roll history packed into the two-and-a-half-hour film, it is Barker's survival story - and the role wife Kourtney Kardashian and his children have played in his life today - that may hit fans hardest.
Barker survived a devastating 2008 plane crash in South Carolina that killed four people. He suffered burns over 70% of his body and endured an astonishing 30 surgeries while spending six months in a burn center.
"I almost died," Barker told The Associated Press while discussing why he was willing to share so much of his life in the documentary.
At one point, Barker wasn't simply wondering whether he would ever sit behind a drum kit again. He didn't know whether he would be able to walk.
The tragedy also left him terrified of flying.
In fact, the documentary was initially going to end with Barker - still struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder - simply walking toward an airplane. But he didn't want the story to finish with fear still having that kind of power over him.
So the ending changed.
Barker gets on the plane.
And these days, he says he flies regularly, even though turbulence can still stir up plenty of thoughts. One of the people helping him see flying differently has been Kardashian.
"I just look over and my wife's perfectly OK," Barker said of being on a plane with her.
His children have also transformed the experience. Barker spoke movingly about watching his young son's innocent fascination with airplanes, calling it "so beautiful."
"They've been my greatest joy," he said of his children.
It's a striking place to arrive for someone whose life has been marked by an extraordinary mixture of fame and loss.
Long before Blink-182 made him one of the most recognizable drummers in rock music, Barker discovered that music could be a way of surviving pain. His mother's death when he was young changed his relationship with his instrument.
"Where drumming got really serious for me was after my mom passed, so it was therapy," Barker explained. "It's like my life. It's like oxygen to me."
That obsession eventually carried him from playing in bands while working as a trash collector to The Aquabats and then Blink-182, where he became part of one of pop-punk's defining acts.
His career has since stretched far beyond Blink. Barker has played with Box Car Racer and +44, explored hip-hop through numerous collaborations and built businesses around his interests in fashion, skateboarding and car culture.
But Louder Than Fear isn't simply a victory lap through an impressive résumé.
It also digs into Barker's battles with addiction, his sobriety and the tragedies that could easily have sent his life in another direction.
Barker says he has learned that traumatic experiences can either "destroy someone or define them."
For him, the losses only intensified his determination.
"There was no Plan B," he said of his drive to succeed in music. "Plan B was only making Plan A work."
Now, after decades of Blink-182 hits, celebrity, unimaginable trauma, recovery and a very public love story with Kardashian, Barker says his idea of legacy is surprisingly simple.
He wants to be remembered not only for his music and drumming, but for being a great father, husband, son and brother.
And despite everything that happened along the way, Barker isn't wishing for an easier version of his story.
"I don't love how everything happened," he admitted. "I don't like the losses that happened. But I like how hard I had to work."
Perhaps that explains the title Louder Than Fear better than anything else.
The man who once survived a burning plane and then spent years terrified to board another one is flying again - this time with Kourtney and his family beside him.
"Maybe my story helps somebody," Barker said.
