My Chemical Romance

About My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance started in the basement of a New Jersey eyeglass store in 2001, which tells you something about how unglamorous the origin story really was. Gerard Way watched the Twin Towers fall and decided to stop drawing comics for a living and start a band instead. He recruited some guys from the local scene, including guitarist Ray Toro and his friend Matt Pelissier on drums, later adding guitarist Frank Iero and bassist Mikey Way, Gerard's younger brother.

Their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, came out in 2002 on Eyeball Records. It was scrappy and raw, more post-hardcore than anything else, but you could hear something forming. The production was basement-level, but tracks like "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" had the theatrical DNA that would define everything they did later.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004 was the one that broke them. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" became inescapable on MTV2, with its house party video full of prep school revenge fantasies. "Helena" was the bigger song though, a genuinely affecting track about Gerard and Mikey's grandmother that came with a funeral-themed video people still reference. The album went platinum. Suddenly they were the band your younger sibling's friends were obsessing over.

Then came The Black Parade in 2006, their attempt at a rock opera about a dying cancer patient called The Patient. They showed up to the VMAs dressed as a marching band. "Welcome to the Black Parade" opened with a piano line that every emo kid learned by heart, then exploded into this Queen-meets-punk anthem that somehow worked. The album was ambitious in ways that could have been embarrassing but mostly wasn't. "Teenagers," "Famous Last Words," "Mama" with Liza Minnelli on it for some reason. They committed fully to the concept and it paid off.

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys in 2010 swapped Victorian funeral aesthetics for a post-apocalyptic California desert thing, complete with comic book tie-ins and ray guns. "Na Na Na" and "Sing" were poppier, more colorful, dividing fans who wanted more Black Parade darkness. It felt like they were trying to escape their own shadow.

They broke up in 2013. Gerard went solo, released music that sounded nothing like MCR, went back to comics. Frank kept about five projects going. Everyone assumed that was it.

Then in 2019 they announced a reunion show. Not a tour, just one show at the Shrine in LA. Tickets sold out instantly. They've been touring intermittently since, including festivals and arena dates, playing to crowds that include both the original 2000s fans and a new generation who discovered them on TikTok. No new album yet, if there ever will be one.

Their shows are cathartic singalongs where everyone knows every word and isn't embarrassed about it. Mosh pits form immediately. Way connects with the crowd like he's speaking directly to the part of you that feels like an outsider. It's sweaty and intense and kind of therapeutic.

Known for I'm Not Okay (I Promise), Welcome to the Black Parade, Helena, This Is How I Disappear, Famous Last Words

See My Chemical Romance Live