My Chemical Romance is BACK
photo courtesy of @mychemicalromance Instagram
Put on your tightest black skinny jeans, smear on that midnight black eyeliner, and straighten those side bangs, because the day we’ve been waiting for is finally here: My Chemical Romance is back.
The beloved emo band announced its reunion on October 31, and our middle school selves could not be more excited. After the bands initial breakup six years ago, the four members of the band seemed to all go their separate ways with no signs of reuniting. That’s why they took the world by storm when the band’s official Instagram and Twitter accounts—which, by the way, had all been but inactive for the past five years—posted an image of two angel statues with the word “return” emblazoned across them. Now, we’re going to take the time to talk about what this reunion is, what’s led up to it, and why your inner 13-year-old should care.
If you’re scratching your head right now, don’t worry, because we’re here to give you a quick history lesson. My Chemical Romance (or MCR if you’re a true fan) was born in 2001, and is quite possibly the best thing to come out of New Jersey. It originally had five members: guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, drummer Matt Pelissier, bassist Mikey Way, and lead singer Gerard Way. Pelissier quickly left the band and was replaced by Bob Bryar, who eventually left as well. Consequently, from 2010 on, the band was only comprised of four members. They achieved mainstream success with their song “Welcome to the Black Parade” off of their third album, which was lauded as one of the “Top 100 Best Songs of 2006” by Rolling Stone. During this time, they gained a massive following among tweens and teens. They came to be the poster-boys for the immensely popular emo and scene subcultures with their emotional and borderline grotesque lyrics and guitar-heavy instrumentals. The band then released one more studio album, as well as a greatest hits album and a number of EPs, before calling it quits in 2013. Their die-hard fan base was crushed when they made this announcement, and since then, the band members had been making their own solo music, comic books, and TV shows, all the while claiming that the band would never reunite. That is, until July 2019. Shortly after the Jonas Brothers reunion, Joe Jonas (of all people) went on KISS FM radio and said that he had seen MCR rehearsing together in New York City. Former guitarist Frank Iero then took to Twitter to post a video playfully teasing Jonas, effectively sealing the deal: MCR was not getting back together under any circumstances. Fast-forward to October, and it turns out that JERK’s favorite Jo-Bro was right. The band announced a reunion show at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles on December 20, and tickets sold out in a matter of hours. They went on to announce performances at music festivals in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in the subsequent days, all of which promise to be well-attended also.
Sure, these music festivals are all well and good, but are we getting a new album? So far, it’s been radio silence from MCR on the production of any new music or a world tour, but we’re hopeful. Many fans online have speculated that they’ll drop new music on the day of their reunion show in LA. Until they make any more announcements, though, just know that we’ll be clutching our studded belts and holding our Hot Topic rewards cards close.