| Biography
My Chemical Romance is an alternative rock band that formed in New Jersey in 2001. The current members of My Chemical Romance are Gerard Way (lead vocals), Mikey Way (bass), Bob Bryar (drums), Frank Iero (rhythm guitar), and Ray Toro (lead guitar). While many consider them to be emo, the band (and some of their listeners) deny it. In a recent interview, lead singer Gerard Way said: "I don't think emo ever fit us...even in the beginning...maybe geographically, but at that time, when we would play VFW halls...we were always odd man out."
 The band cites their main influences as The Misfits, Morrissey/The Smiths, Iron Maiden, Thursday, The Cure, and Queen. Some other bands/artists that the band has claimed to have made an impact on their music are Black Flag, Nirvana, Muse, Ozzy Osbourne, Green Day and The Smashing Pumpkins. Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality. The band members hail from Belleville, Newark and Kearny, New Jersey, except drummer Bob Bryar, who is from Chicago, Illinois. Bassist Mikey Way coined the band's name from a book entitled Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, by Irvine Welsh.
The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and ex-drummer Matt Pelissier. The first song they wrote was Skylines and Turnstiles, which was written by Gerard about his feelings on September 11th after he watched it happen. Shortly after, Ray Toro, Mikey Way (Gerard's brother) and Frank Iero would join the band.
The band then recorded their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, and released it in 2002 on Eyeball Records. When I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was made, they had only been a band for about three months. Frank Iero had joined My Chemical Romance only days before the band hit the recording studio for their debut album. After the release, they toured with bands such as Underoath, The Used, Thrice, Voice in the Wire, and Taking Back Sunday.
In 2003, the band signed a deal with Reprise Records and began working on their second album after finishing a tour with Avenged Sevenfold. The album, entitled Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, was released in 2004 and went Platinum a year later. The album contained three singles: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena" and "The Ghost of You".
At the start of 2005, the band were direct support on the first ever Taste of Chaos tour, and were also the opening act for Green Day on their American Idiot tour. Later that year they co-headlined and finally headlined their own tour, for the first time ever with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect around the country.
My Chemical Romance and The Used collaborated on a cover of the David Bowie and Queen classic "Under Pressure" that was released as a benefit single on iTunes and other internet outlets.
(Source: wikipedia, www.wikipedia.com)
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