Gerard Way
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Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) in Belleville, New Jersey is frontman and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance, in which his brother Mikey Way plays bass.
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Biography
Childhood
Way is of Scottish and Italian descent. He first began singing in fourth grade, when he played the part of Peter Pan in a school production of the play. His grandmother Elena Lee Rush (who was known to friends as Helen), taught him to sing and made his costume, including traditional green tights. After this Way "turned his back" on singing, saying, "Well, I don't want to be this weird singer kid, [I'm] into other things like comics and Iron Maiden". He then decided to pursue graphic arts. Way had always been interested in drawing and comics because his childhood house was a "dark and dingy gothic-looking" place in the town of Belleville, New Jersey. Way says that as a child, you couldn't really go out and play, so he made up imaginary worlds in his head, which led on to his love for artwork.
After graduating from Belleville High School in 1995, he attended School of Visual Arts in New York City graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999. In 2001, Way says he tried to sell an animated television series to Cartoon Network called The Breakfast Monkey. He maintains that Cartoon Network turned down the pitch because it was too similar to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, then already in production..
The Formation of My Chemical Romance
Way was working in the comic industry in New York when the September 11th attacks occurred. This event inspired him to "do something with his life", and he formed the band My Chemical Romance. The band's first song "Skylines and Turnstiles" was inspired by Way's experience on 9/11. The band's name, suggested by Mikey Way, came from a book written by Irvine Welsh, entitled Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. Gerard brought together Ray Toro, Matt Pelissier (later replaced by Bob Bryar), Frank Iero, and his brother Mikey to play gigs along the East Coast. The band released its first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002 under the at-that-time-obscure New Jersey label Eyeball Records. Music turned out to be an effective means for Way to deal with his longtime battle against depression, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse, leading to the creation of deeply personal songs such as "Helena", written after the death of his grandmother.
Despite his success as a musician, Way has continued to draw: he produced the artwork for the band's second album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and has designed merchandise for My Chemical Romance and other bands. He has created artwork to raise money for causes such as the fight against breast cancer. Other charity work includes collaborating with The Used lead singer Bert McCracken to release a cover of the Queen and David Bowie single "Under Pressure", on iTunes for Tsunami Relief charity.
Recently on MTV2's All That Rocks, Way was voted "Almighty King of Rock" with 63% of the total votes.
Feud with Bert McCracken
Way was close friends with The Used singer Bert McCracken. The two recorded several songs together, including a cover of "Under Pressure" and the My Chemical Romance song, "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison", in which McCracken provides backup vocals. However, in 2006 they have had a falling out. McCracken has said in an interview with VH1, "I'd prefer not to say anything about My Chemical Romance, except that we did have a falling out. We don't speak at all anymore. It's got nothing to do with their success. I'm completely comfortable with where our band is at. We used to be very close, but no more. We had a falling out. The rest of my band, they're still mates with all the guys in that band. But I'd prefer to say nothing more about My Chemical Romance.". Both Way and his brother have made statements since, indicating McCracken was only joking, confessing that they remain in contact with him and nothing has happened between them.
- In a recent interview with Blender magazine (late 2006), Gerard Way revealed the true manner of the falling out. After Gerard became sober their friendship turned sour, and soon thereafter McCracken began to trash-talk My Chemical Romance. Way stated that he hasn't spoken to Bert since the San Diego stop of the Warped Tour on June 30th of 2005. McCracken had tried to distract fans from My Chemical Romance's set with a megaphone, but failed. "It was really unfortunate" says Way. Bert declined to comment.
Trivia
- In a recent interview with Kerrang! magazine, Gerard Way revealed he would be working on a comic book series called "The Umbrella Academy". In the interview, Gerard stated he had a love for comic books and superheroes and said that the first issue may not be released until early to mid 2007.[1]
- Gerard Way's favourite book is The Catcher in the Rye.
- Gerard's favourite band is Queen. (Magazine Interview)
- Gerard along with all the other members of My Chemical Romance, are all good friends with Taking Back Sunday, also during The Next Big Thing Tour, Adam Lazzara sung the My Chemical Romance hit single "I'm Not Okay" for Gerard when he had a throat problem. [6]
References
- ↑ Alternative Press Magazine Issue #197 (December 2004), pp. 129-138
- ↑ "Teen Titans" — Rolling Stone (2005-07-14)
- ↑ Breakfast Monkey concept clip
- ↑ Band biography from the All Music Guide
- ↑ Vh1 interview with Bert McCracken - by James Montgomery (November 9, 2005)
- Gerard's Bio and other Info on imnotokay.net
| My Chemical Romance |
| Gerard Way | Mikey Way | Frank Iero | Ray Toro | Bob Bryar |
| Matt Pelissier |
|---|
| Discography |
| Albums: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | The Black Parade |
| Live album: Life on the Murder Scene |
| Singles |
| "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" | "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" | "Headfirst for Halos" | "Our Lady of Sorrows" | "Thank You for the Venom" | "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" | "Helena" | "The Ghost of You" | "Welcome to the Black Parade" | "Famous Last Words" |
