By Melissa Martinez
News Editor
Fans everywhere are mourning the recent break-up of the popular alternative rock band, My Chemical Romance (MCR) which announced its separation on its website on March 2.
The band, which formed in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks, includes Gerard Way as lead vocalist, Ray Toro and Frank Lero as guitarists and Mikey Way as bassist.
After releasing its first album, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” in 2003, MCR gained a large fan base, performing at multiple tours, including the first “Taste of Chaos” as well as headlining “Warped Tour.” The band’s second album, “Life on the Murder Scene” was released in 2006, with “The Black Parade” released later that year and debuting as the fourth-greatest album of the year by music magazine, Kerrang! The album earned the No. 20 spot in 2006 on the list of greatest albums in Rolling Stone magazine, which is a huge accomplishment for any musician. MCR was set to release two more albums with “Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys” in 2009 and “Conventional Weapons” in 2012 but they both came out as a series of released singles.
I personally identified with “The Black Parade,” the band’s rock opera album with each song portraying one theme: “The Patient,” a character dying of cancer. The first single of the album, “Welcome to the Black Parade,” focuses on The Patient as he transitions from life to death, with death arriving in the form of a parade. MCR took a turn creatively through their music and entire album by creating an alternative identity as a band. Through the“The Black Parade” tour, the band performed in costume, pulling the audience into a sense of being a part of the parade. Listening to the albums could only be conveyed as a personal journey everyone should experience.
Though the breakup is devastating for fans everywhere, the split isn’t a total shock. Since the band hasn’t released an complete album in a few years, MCR had a few choices: to release an amazing album that would inevitably change lives (like they’ve done before) or call it a day and end their run on great terms. Unfortunately, they chose the latter.
However, myself and fellow fans will always remember the impact MCR made to music. We can agree with the band’s final message stating, “Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. We’ve gotten to go places we never knew we would. We’ve been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.”
If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can purchase MCR memorabilia at mychemicalromance.com