Alabama was born on December 24, 2005, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, were already documenting their chaotic, affectionate domestic life for MTV. The show Meet the Barkers ran for two seasons between 2005 and 2006, concluding shortly after Alabama's birth. Viewers watched her parents balance rock tours with diaper changes, introducing Alabama and her older brother, Landon Barker (born October 9, 2003), to television cameras before either child reached preschool.
Her childhood was punctuated by severe public trials. In September 2008, Travis Barker survived a fatal Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people and left him with severe third-degree burns. Alabama was two years old. The trauma fundamentally restructured the household, leading to years where her father refused to step on an airplane while her parents navigated an on-and-off relationship that ultimately concluded in divorce.
Despite the turbulence, music remained an anchor. Travis encouraged both Alabama and Landon to experiment with instruments from a young age. Alabama took up piano and vocal training, often spending hours in the studio watching her father track drums for various hip-hop and alternative rock projects. That early exposure demystified the recording studio, giving her an intuitive grasp of song arrangement and performance mechanics.
