Gerard Way

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Gerard Way

Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9 1977 in Newark, New Jersey[1]) is frontman, lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance; he is also elder brother to the band's bass player, Mikey Way.

Biography

Background

Gerard Way is of Scottish and Italian descent. [2] He first began singing in fourth grade, when he played the part of Peter Pan in a school production of the play. His maternal grandmother, Elena Lee Rush, taught him to sing, paint and perform.[3] She also made his costume, which included 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. [citation needed]

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, he was not able to play much outside, because it was a dangerous area. Instead, he created imaginary worlds in his head, which led to his love for artwork.[citation needed]

After graduating from Belleville High School in 1995,[4] he attended School of Visual Arts in New York City, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999. Gerard aspired to be a comic book artist and claimed his favourite comic-book team was the Doom Patrol.[5] In 2001, Way says he tried to sell an animated television series to Cartoon Network[1] called The Breakfast Monkey.[citation needed] He maintains that Cartoon Network turned down the pitch because it was too similar to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, then already in production.[6]

Music and My Chemical Romance

In 2001, Way was working in the comic industry in New York when the September 11 attacks occurred. This event changed Way dramatically. He told Spin magazine, "I literally said to myself, ‘F*** art. I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world. I’ve gotta make a difference!'"[5] Soon after, he formed the band My Chemical Romance. The band's first song "Skylines and Turnstiles" was inspired by Way's experience on 9/11.[7] 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. He cited his musical influences as The Cure, Queen, The Misfits, and The Smiths, while Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day influenced him to play the guitar.[3]

The band released its first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002 on the New Jersey label Eyeball Records. Gerard Way often gets song ideas from the newspaper. He sees lyrics as a way of telling a story, and usually loves dark stuff; "anything twisted, weird, and a little evil". The song, “Demolition Lovers”, is said to be about Gerard's former girlfriend, based on a dedication in the CD booklet.

Music turned out to be an effective means for Way to deal with his long-time battle against depression, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse, leading to the creation of deeply personal songs such as "Helena",[8] written after the death of his grandmother. The band also collaborated 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. Gerard has been clean and sober since August 2004, although he still smokes cigarettes.[9]

In October of 2006, the band released their third album The Black Parade. During the shoot in August for "Famous Last Words", band members Gerard Way and Bob Bryar were injured. Way tore all of the ligaments in his foot which is said to be worse than breaking your foot. 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 has confirmed that these injuries occurred on the set of the video.[10] The band continues to promote the album and is scheduled to perform at festivals and tours throughout the world.

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 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 any more. 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".[11] 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 magazine interview Alternative Press, McCracken denied ever hearing about them having a falling out, and wished Way "the best of luck". [citation needed]

In a recent interview with Blender magazine Gerard revealed the true manner of the falling out. After he sobered up their friendship turned sour, and soon thereafter McCracken reportedly 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 30 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.

The Used's song, "Pretty Handsome Awkward", is said to be about a man whose description suspiciously matches that of the former blond Gerard, although nothing is completely certain. McCracken and guitarist Quinn Allman had hinted to the magazine Kerrang! that the song was about Way, saying that "it's about someone with short blond hair". The song is found on The Used's upcoming album, Lies For The Liars. Gerard makes an appearance in The Used's live album, Berth.

Art

The Umbrella Academy
Dark Horse Comics

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, he 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.[12]

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. Remarkably, Way has remained very humble and content despite his accelerated rise to stardom. It is rumored the artist even plays an undead warrior in World of Warcraft and says that he appreciates the time he has to temporarily leave the spotlight and live a normal life. [citation needed]

Interviews

On April 19, 2007 Gerard did an interview with a Tampa, Florida radio station. The station had fans from all over the world write in questions they wanted him to answer. After receiving responses from all over the world they asked Gerard a handful of questions. One asked what his shoe size is, he replied "9 1/2." Another fan asked what the significance of the gold band on his left hand was and he said "the significance of it is, I found somebody very special and that's about what I am talking about right now, thats about as much as I will say about that." He was also asked if the Virginia Tech tragedy would affect the release of their next single "Teenagers" Gerard responded by saying "Thats a really good question, it actually makes it more important to release that song then, the question never actually came up, teen violence is probably the one subject next to death, that we tackle on "The Black Parade" that's a current relevant problem that's directed at teenagers. So right now I think that song has to be put out in a lot of ways." He was also asked some off the wall questions like "Bob, Frank, Mikey and Ray are hanging on a cliff. You only have time to save one. Who would you save?" He replied "I'd jump too."[2]

References

  1. ^ "Teen Titans" — Rolling Stone (2005-07-14)
  1. Gerard's Bio and other Info on imnotokay.net
  1. ^ "Radio 1 Presents... My Chemical Romance". BBC Radio 1. From the radio interview
  2. ^ "Gerard Way". NNDB.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b "My Chemical Romance: They're Ok (Promise)". MTV. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Geeks become No1 emo stars, The Sun, October 23, 2006. "His is taken from the 1995 yearbook for Belleville High School, New Jersey, when Gerard, then 18, posed for the camera alongside other students in his leaving year."
  5. ^ a b "My Chemical Romance". Spin Magazine. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "My Chemical Romance". Alternative Press (Music Magazine). {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "Alternative Press Issue #197 (December 2004), pp. 129-138" ignored (help)
  7. ^ "My Chemical Romace Biography". Yahoo.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "My Chemical Romance Biography". All Music Guide. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Gerard's Biography". I'mNotOK.net. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |acessyear= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "My Chemical Romance News". Mychemicalromance.com.
  11. ^ "Used Frontman Cryptically Reveals Rift With My Chemical Romance". VH1 News. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |acessyear= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance's soon to be released CD". Buzznet.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  1. http://97xonline.com/contests/mcr.html

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Gerard Way.

[[3]] 97X video

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