Newark, NJ · emo · theatrical rock · alternative rock · post-hardcore

My Chemical Romance

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Concept-album maximalists who treated emo as opera — marching-band drums, guitar harmonies, and a costume for every era, theatrical to the last note.

My Chemical Romance came together in New Jersey in September 2001, when Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelissier decided to start a band shortly after watching the September 11 attacks unfold. Ray Toro was brought in on guitar, and Mikey Way, then working in a bookshop, suggested the band's name after a title by novelist Irvine Welsh. Frank Iero joined from the band Pencey Prep just days before the debut recording sessions began.

The band signed to Eyeball Records and released I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002, a record built on post-hardcore aggression. A move to Reprise Records followed, and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, released in 2004, became a platinum-selling breakthrough not long after Pelissier was replaced on drums by Bob Bryar.

The band's reach widened further with The Black Parade in 2006, a rock opera built around a single narrative and staged with a matching visual identity. Its single "Welcome to the Black Parade" topped the UK singles chart, and coverage in the Daily Mail stirred controversy that only sharpened the band's following.

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys followed in 2010, released after Bryar's departure; keyboardist James Dewees joined the touring lineup in 2012. A batch of songs recorded back in 2009 surfaced as the Conventional Weapons singles across 2012 and 2013, shortly before the band announced its split on March 22, 2013. A compilation, May Death Never Stop You, appeared in 2014.

A reunion was announced in October 2019, with a reunion show that December and a tour running through 2022 into early 2023. "The Foundations of Decay", released in May 2022, was the band's first new material in eight years. Away from the band, Gerard Way has built a career as a comics writer, best known for creating The Umbrella Academy.

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emotheatrical rockalternative rockpost-hardcorealt-rock