My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is an American rock band from New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way. They are considered one of the most influential rock groups of the 2000s and a major act in the emo and pop-punk genres, despite the band rejecting the former label.

Formed in September 2001 by Gerard, Mikey, Toro, and drummer Matt Pelissier (and later joined by Iero), the band signed with Eyeball Records and released their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major-label debut, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, in 2004. Shortly after the album's release, Pelissier was replaced by Bob Bryar. The album was a commercial success, attaining platinum status over a year later.

The success of the band's previous albums was eclipsed by that of their 2006 rock opera concept album, The Black Parade. A major commercial success, its lead single "Welcome to the Black Parade" topped the UK singles chart. The album solidified the band's following, with negative coverage in the Daily Mail generating controversy. The band's fourth studio album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, was released in 2010. Bryar departed the band prior to the release of the album, and in 2012, they added touring keyboardist James Dewees. In 2012 and 2013, the band released a series of singles they had recorded in 2009 under the collective title Conventional Weapons. Despite initially sharing plans for a fifth studio album, My Chemical Romance announced its breakup on March 22, 2013. They released a greatest hits album, May Death Never Stop You, in 2014.

The band announced their reunion in October 2019, with a reunion show taking place in December. They followed it up with announcements for other shows and a Reunion Tour, which took place in 2022 and ended in early 2023. They released "The Foundations of Decay", their first new release in eight years, in May 2022.

History

2001–2002: Formation and I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

thumb|Witnessing the [[September 11 attacks influenced Gerard Way to form My Chemical Romance.]]

The band was formed by vocalist Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelissier in New Jersey, soon after the September 11 attacks. Shortly thereafter, Ray Toro was recruited as the band's guitarist because at the time Way could not sing and play the guitar simultaneously. Way has said, "Music was this thing I secretly wanted to do", and later wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" to express his feelings about September 11. After hearing the demo and dropping out of college, Mikey Way decided to join the band. While with Eyeball Records, the band met Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Pencey Prep. Following Pencey Prep's split in 2002, Iero became a member of My Chemical Romance, just days before the recording of the band's debut album. Iero played guitar on two of the tracks, one of which was "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville". During this time, the band was booked at the infamous venue Big Daddy's, where it began to receive more attention. The album produced three singles, "Vampires Will Never Hurt You", "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us", and "Headfirst for Halos". My Chemical Romance offered free downloads through PureVolume and the social networking website MySpace, where they gained an initial fan base.

2003–2006: Major label signing and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

On August 31, 2003, the band announced via their website that they had signed a deal with Reprise Records. The band's second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, was released on June 8, 2004. A month after the album's release, the band replaced Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar. The album went platinum in just over a year after its release.

At the beginning of 2005, the band was featured on the first Taste of Chaos tour along with the Used and Killswitch Engage. The band also was the opening act for Green Day on their American Idiot tour. They then co-headlined Warped Tour 2005 with Fall Out Boy and co-headlined a tour with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect around the US. That same year, My Chemical Romance collaborated with the Used for a cover of the Queen and David Bowie song, "Under Pressure", which was released as a benefit single for tsunami relief on iTunes and other Internet outlets.

In March 2006, the album Life on the Murder Scene was released, incorporating a CD and two DVDs. It included one documentary DVD chronicling the band's history, and a second DVD with music videos, the making of their videos and live performances. An unauthorized biography DVD Things That Make You Go MMM! was also released in June 2006. The DVD does not actually feature any My Chemical Romance music clips or performances but contains interviews with those who knew the band before much of their fame. A biography titled Something Incredible This Way Comes was also released, written by Paul Stenning and published in 2006. It features information on their beginnings right through to their third album, The Black Parade.

2006–2009: The Black Parade

thumb|Announcement of The Black Parade at London [[Hammersmith Palais on August 22, 2006]]

My Chemical Romance started recording their third studio album on April 10, 2006, with Rob Cavallo, producer of many of Green Day's albums.

On August 3, 2006, the band completed shooting the videos for their first two singles from the album, "Welcome to the Black Parade" and although not released until January 2007, "Famous Last Words". Both videos were directed by Samuel Bayer, director of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as well as the music videos for the Green Day album American Idiot. During filming for the second video, band members Gerard Way and Bob Bryar were injured. Way suffered torn ligaments in his ankle, and Bryar suffered third-degree burns on his hands and legs. Consequently, the band was forced to cancel a few tour dates.

On August 22, 2006, the band played a special one-off show at the 1,800-capacity London Hammersmith Palais. The show was sold out in 15 minutes. Later during the show, the album title was confirmed. The band were bottled during a performance at the Reading Festival by fans of the band Slayer, who performed before them at the festival; Way later described it as their "greatest victory as a show".

thumb|left|The band during the [[Big Day Out in February 2007]]

"Welcome to the Black Parade" was released as a single on September 11, 2006. A music video for the song, directed by Samuel Bayer and starring Lukas Haas as "The Patient", was released later the same month. The single became the band's first number-one on the UK Singles Chart in October 2006. The Black Parade was released on October 23, 2006. In the US, "Welcome to the Black Parade" reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the band's only top ten hit to date on the chart.

The Black Parade World Tour started on February 22, 2007, featuring Rise Against and Muse as support acts. Reggie and the Full Effect frontman James Dewees joined the band to play keyboards and synthesizer from there on. In April 2007, it was announced that Mikey Way would temporarily leave the tour to spend time with his new wife, Alicia Simmons-Way. Way's temporary replacement was Matt Cortez, a friend of the band. During the third leg of the tour, as a support act for Muse, members of My Chemical Romance and their crew, along with members of Muse's crew, suffered food poisoning, and consequently had to cancel shows. The band later featured on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour in 2007, along with Placebo, Mindless Self Indulgence, Saosin, Taking Back Sunday and HIM.

My Chemical Romance received a range of accolades for The Black Parade. Kerrang! rated The Black Parade as the fourth-greatest album of 2006. In Rolling Stone magazine's ranking of the top 50 albums of 2006, The Black Parade was voted the 20th best album of the year, and 361st on their top 500 albums of all time. My Chemical Romance went on to win the award for Best International Band at the 2007 NME Awards, and Gerard Way also won the Hero of the Year award. My Chemical Romance was also nominated for Best Alternative Group at the 2007 American Music Awards.

During the height of the album's popularity, British tabloid Daily Mail characterized the band and their fans as an emo "cult of self-harm", However, after concerns by police, the march was called off and instead about 100 fans congregated at Marble Arch. The Daily Mail defended their position and coverage of the band, saying that it was "balanced and restrained", "in the public interest", and that they were reporting genuine concerns raised by the coroner at the inquest. They pointed towards other newspapers publishing such stories at the time, as well as to their publishing of readers' letters defending the band and positive reviews of the band's albums and tours.

thumb|Most of the concerts on The Black Parade World Tour involved the use of [[pyrotechnics, especially during "Mama" and "Famous Last Words".]]

In 2008, the band released a live DVD/CD collection titled The Black Parade Is Dead!, which includes two concerts from October 2007, the final Black Parade concert in Mexico, and a small show at Maxwell's in New Jersey. The DVD/CD was meant to be released on June 24 in the United States and June 30 in the UK, but was postponed to July 1 because of a technical fault with the Mexico concert. In 2009, an EP of B-sides from The Black Parade was released, titled The Black Parade: The B-Sides. The band then announced that they would be releasing "a collection of nine never-before-seen live videos, straight from the encore set of the Mexico City show from October 2007" during their Black Parade World Tour, titled ¡Venganza!. The release came on a bullet-shaped flash drive. It was released on April 10, 2009.

2009–2011: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

In February 2009, My Chemical Romance released a new single titled "Desolation Row", a cover of the Bob Dylan song. It was recorded to feature as the end credit track for the 2009 film Watchmen, an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. While working on the then-upcoming fourth album, the band originally worked with producer Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with AC/DC, Mastodon, and Pearl Jam.

In an interview with NME, Gerard Way said the band's next record would be a rock album, saying, "I think [the next album] will definitely be stripped down. I think the band misses being a rock band." Way also commented that the next release would be less theatrical in scope, stating that "it's not going to be hiding behind a veil of fiction or uniforms and makeup anymore." In an interview with PopEater, Way also stated that the next album will be "full of hate". He also said "over the years that we've been hearing ourselves live and hearing us on records, we kind of prefer the live. There's more of a garage feel and more energy. I'd like to capture some of that, finally. That's the goal for the next one."

On July 31 and August 1, 2009, My Chemical Romance played two "secret" shows at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles. The shows were the first concerts the band had played since Madison Square Garden in May 2008. The band also premiered several new songs said to be from their upcoming fourth album during the shows, one reportedly titled "Death Before Disco", a song that Way said he was particularly excited about. The song was since renamed "Party Poison" and was included on the new album. Way explained further in a Rolling Stone interview that "it's a completely different sound for the band — it's like an anti-party song that you can party to. I can't wait for people to hear it. It brings back, lyrically, some of that wonderful fiction from the first album."

Gerard Way also said in a November 2009 interview with Rock Sound that the fourth album would be their defining work. "A friend who heard the record recently said he now had no interest in listening to our older work anymore, that we had made all our old material redundant. I took it as a compliment, the next thing you should always make the last thing seem unimportant and I think that will happen when we finally release this album." On March 3, 2010, Iero announced on their official website that Bob Bryar had left the band, writing:

thumbnail|My Chemical Romance performing at a concert in 2011

Since Bryar's departure, My Chemical Romance has not had a full time drummer. In a March 2010 MTV interview about the new album, Way explained, "There's no title yet ... I'm actually kind of excited about that. It's kind of 'anything goes' at this point, but I'm so happy with the songs." Though the band eventually decided on the title of their fourth album, it continued to go unannounced, with various rumors circulating and the band stating on their website that it will be revealed "all in due time".

During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, Way announced that the band had finished recording the fourth studio album. This was later confirmed by Iero on the band's website, announcing that the album was "done, finished, kaput, in the proverbial can, and being played loudly as we drive way too fast in our respective cars." On September 22, 2010, the band premiered their song "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show, and Los Angeles-based radio station KROQ-FM. The song officially release as a single on September 28. The album was released on November 22, 2010. The second single, "Sing", was released on November 3, 2010. Some of the other singles from the album include, "Planetary (Go!)", "Bulletproof Heart", "The Only Hope for Me Is You", and "The Kids from Yesterday". "Sing", in particular, would go on to be covered by the cast of the American musical drama TV series Glee in February 2011, and later re-recorded as a charity single in response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. American broadcaster Glenn Beck labelled the song as propaganda, stating that it was an example of how "our whole culture right now is set up for you and the values that we grew up on to lose", and was an anthem telling people to "join [them]". Gerard Way responded to the accusation by saying "I think the word Glenn Beck was looking for was 'subversion' not 'propaganda' [...] I don't know what it would be considered propaganda for—truth? Sentiment?".

left|thumb|My Chemical Romance performing in 2011

Rock Sound had a preview of the album and gave a positive review, commenting "the way they've used everything they learned on The Black Parade and tightened up in certain places feels natural and confident" and that it sees "the creativity of the band taking flight musically, graphically and literally." Michael Pedicone joined the band as a touring drummer late in 2010, replacing Bryar. During a performance at Wembley Arena on February 12, 2011, Way announced that the band would be appearing at a UK festival later in the year. They also performed at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, England on May 15, 2011.

On September 2, 2011, Frank Iero posted a blog on the band's site stating, "The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over" and explaining Pedicone was sacked because "he was caught red-handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show last night in Auburn, Washington." He also mentioned his hope of getting a new drummer in time for their next show and avoiding having to cancel any performances in the process. On September 4, 2011, it was revealed through various sources that Jarrod Alexander will be the new touring drummer for the remainder of the Honda Civic tour.

2011–2013: Conventional Weapons and break-up

In an interview with Rolling Stone in October 2011, guitarist Frank Iero revealed that new music could be out "by summer". On December 18, 2011, the band appeared on Nick Jr. Channel's Yo Gabba Gabba!, and performed a song called "Every Snowflake Is Different (Just Like You)". This was part of a Christmas special for the show. with the working title of The Paper Kingdom. The band worked with engineer Doug McKean, who previously worked on The Black Parade and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. In September 2012, the band announced a new project titled Conventional Weapons. The project revolved around 10 unreleased songs that were recorded in 2009, prior to the making of Danger Days.

On March 22, 2013, the band announced their break-up on their official website, issuing this statement:

The band has also released songs that have been described as emo pop, hardcore punk, gothic rock, pop rock, arena rock, glam rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, pop, screamo, and garage punk.