Travis Barker’s relationship with meat started as a hostage situation. As a kid at the family dinner table, he hated it so much he’d hide it in his pockets rather than eat it. Most kids grow out of that. Barker grew into it: vegetarian as a teenager, drummer of Blink-182, and eventually one of the most visible vegans in music.
There’s exactly one asterisk in the whole story, and it’s a heavy one. In September 2008, Barker survived a plane crash that killed four people. Recovering from severe burns, his doctors demanded 6,000 calories a day, and he ate whatever got him there, beef jerky included. Once he’d healed, he didn’t just return to vegetarian. He went all the way vegan, and has stayed there since 2009. Seventeen years and counting.
QUICK ANSWER
Yes, Travis Barker is vegan, and has been since 2009, after a lifetime of avoiding meat anyway. PETA featured him on its vegan celebrities list in January 2026, and he co-owns the famous vegan restaurant Crossroads Kitchen.
Last fact-checked: July 7, 2026
Punk made it cool before Instagram did
Barker’s framing of veganism is different from every actor on our list, and it’s worth quoting exactly, from Cultured Magazine in 2023:
“A vegan diet has always been rooted in punk rock/hard core music since I was a kid, and has always been cool.”
He’s right, historically. Straight edge hardcore was preaching animal liberation decades before it had hashtags. Moby even made a whole free documentary about it. Barker is the mainstream face of that lineage: the guy with “one life one chance” tattooed on him, drumming for the biggest pop-punk band ever, eating a Just Egg breakfast sandwich.
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The lineage, made permanent: Moby wears punk rock’s vegan history on his neck. Photo: Ninon Soulié, used with permission.
And the energy argument, from Men’s Journal back in 2017: “Ever since I found this way of eating I have endless amounts of energy. I can go all day, and after it all I never find myself getting tired.” The man plays hour-long stadium sets and does backflips at the drum riser, so the sample size is decent.
The vegan timeline, tap to expand
Late 1980s: the pocket years
Teenage Travis goes vegetarian after years of hiding dinner-table meat in his pockets. He never liked the taste or the texture, and loved animals too much anyway.
September 2008: the crash
He survives a plane crash that kills four people. During recovery from severe burns, doctors put him on 6,000 calories a day and he eats meat for the only documented time in his adult life.
2009: fully vegan
Recovered, he goes further than before the crash: fully vegan, no dairy, no eggs.
2010s: Crossroads Kitchen
He becomes an investor and co-owner of Tal Ronnen's upscale LA vegan restaurant, later helping expansions to Calabasas and Las Vegas.
2021: Barker Wellness Co.
Launches his own vegan, cruelty-free wellness brand.
2022: Monty's Good Burger and the vegan Food Diaries
Merch collab with the vegan burger chain, plus a Harper's Bazaar “Food Diaries: Vegan Edition” episode documenting a full day of his eating.
January 2026: PETA's list
PETA features him on its “Vegan Celebrities to Inspire You in 2026” roundup, citing the Crossroads co-ownership.
Fact or fiction?
He ate meat as an adult exactly once, after a plane crash. Fact or fiction?
Fact. During his 2008 burn recovery on doctor's orders, he needed 6,000 calories a day. He went vegan for good once he healed.
He owns a stake in a vegan restaurant. Fact or fiction?
Fact. Crossroads Kitchen in LA, one of America's most famous plant-based restaurants.
He went vegan because Kourtney Kardashian asked him to. Fact or fiction?
Fiction. He'd been vegan for over a decade before they married in 2022. If anything, the influence ran the other direction.
Quiz: how well do you know vegan Travis?
Five questions, no cheating
1. What did young Travis do with meat at the dinner table?
2. Why did he briefly eat meat in 2008?
3. Which LA vegan restaurant does he co-own?
4. Which subculture does he credit with making veganism cool?
5. What's his go-to vegan breakfast?
Is Travis Barker still vegan in 2026?
Yes. PETA’s January 2026 list settles the recency question, and seventeen years of receipts settle the rest: the restaurant, the wellness brand, the breakfast sandwiches. The plane crash detour was medical, temporary and, in his telling, the prelude to going further than ever.
He ate meat as an adult exactly once, after a plane crash. Fact or fiction? Fact. During his 2008 burn recovery on doctor's orders, he needed 6,000 calories a day. He went vegan for good once he healed. He owns a stake in a vegan restaurant. Fact or fiction? Fact.
Is Travis Barker still vegan in 2026?+
Yes. PETA’s January 2026 list settles the recency question, and seventeen years of receipts settle the rest: the restaurant, the wellness brand, the breakfast sandwiches.
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