My Chemical Romance (MCR) is an American rock band formed in Belleville, New Jersey, by Gerard Way and Matt Pelissier approximately one week after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The incident influenced Way's life so much that he decided to start a band after writing the song Skylines and Turnstiles to express his feelings about the incident. At the time Way couldn't sing and play the guitar simultaneously so Ray Toro was asked to join the band.

The first recording sessions were done in Pelissier's attic, where the songs Our Lady of Sorrows and Cubicles were recorded. Gerard's younger brother, Mikey Way, loved the demo so much that he decided to join the band after dropping out of college.

The band signed with Eyeball Records where they met Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Pencey Prep. He became a part of the band after Pencey Prep broke up in 2001-02.

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was the bands first album which was recorded three months after their formation and released in 2002. Despite only joining the band a few days before the recording sessions began, Iero played guitar on two of the tracks, Early Sunsets Over Monroeville, and Demolition Lovers.
MCR's music has been described by the media as “pop punk” and “emo”. The band described their music as simply “rock” or “violent, dangerous pop” on their official website, as well as rejecting the term “emo“ to describe their style, with Way stating in a recent interview that they were never emo, as he says emo is “a pile of shit”.

They name Bon Jovi, Queen, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, Morrissey/The Smiths and the Beastie Boys as their main influence. 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.

Work on their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, began in 2003 and it went platinum within a year of its release in 2004. Thank You for the Venom, I'm Not Okay (I Promise), Helena and The Ghost of You were the four singles released from this album. It was during this time that the band replaced Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar.
The band started recording their third studio album on April 10, 2006 which was originally thought to be titled The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance, but in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Gerard Way denied this stating “It was never the title of the album, more a spoof, or joke.”

Shooting for the videos for the first two singles from the album, Welcome to the Black Parade and Famous Last Words, finished on August 3, 2006. During the shoot for the latter Gerard Way suffered torn ligaments in his ankle and Bob Bryar a burn to the leg which caused a severe infection that needed constant monitoring in hospital, forcing the band to cancel a few tour dates.

While these injuries were reported by several news agencies to have been the result of a car accident, a statement released by the band on their website and MySpace page confirmed that these injuries occurred on the set of the video.

On August 22, 2006, the band played an exclusive show at the London Hammersmith Palais. The name of the album they promoted was announced and 20 people dressed in black capes with their faces obscured paraded around Hammersmith, followed by a large group of fans and street team members with signs saying “The Black Parade”.

Prior to the band taking the stage it was announced that MCR were unable to play, but they would be replaced by 'The Black Parade'. This gave rise to hostility in the crowd which subsided only after it was clear that the band were simply performing under a pseudonym in keeping with the theme of the album.

Welcome to the Black Parade was released as a single on September 11, 2006 on iTunes. On September 26, 2006, the music video for Welcome to the Black Parade was released in the UK, and on September 27 in the US. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their first number one. The album was released on October 23, 2006, in the UK and the next day in the US.

MCR received mixed accolades. In Kerrang! magazine, issue 1138, MCR won the following categories in the 2006 poll Best Band, Worst Band, Best Album (The Black Parade), Worst Album (The Black Parade), Best Track (Welcome to the Black Parade), Best Video (Welcome to the Black Parade), Best Live Show, Best Thing about 2006, Worst Thing about 2006, Hero of 2006 (Gerard Way), Villain of 2006 (Gerard Way), and Sexiest Male (Gerard Way).

Surprisingly at the third position in the Sexiest Female category was also Gerard Way. Also, in issue 1139, Kerrang! rated The Black Parade as the 4th Greatest Album of 2006. In Rolling Stone's ranking of the top 50 albums of 2006, The Black Parade was voted the 20th best album of the year. MCR won the award for “Best International Band” at the 2007 NME Awards. Gerard also won the “Hero of the Year” award. MCR was nominated for “Best Alternative Group” at the 2007 American Music Awards, but lost the title to Linkin Park.

Recently, Gerard Way told NME that the band's next record would be a rock album, saying “I think (the next album) will definitely be stripped down. I think the band misses being a rock band.”

In a popeater.com interview, Way has also stated that the next album will be “full of hate” and whilst it is early days yet, he has also said, “Over the years that we've been hearing ourselves live and hearing us on records, we kind of prefer the live. There's more of a garage feel and more energy. I'd like to capture some of that, finally. That's the goal for the next one.”