Gerard Way

Gerard Way

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

Biography

Background

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 maternal grandmother, Helena Lee Rush, taught him to sing, paint and preform. 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.

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 much able to play outside, because it was a dangerous area. Instead he created imaginary worlds in his head, which led on to his love for artwork. As a child, Gerard came to the revelation that everyone he cares about will eventually die, and that he will die alone. This has led to his current obsession with the idea of death.

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. Gerard aspired to be a comic book artist and claimed his favorite comic-book team was the Doom Patrol. In 2001, Way says he tried to sell an animated television series to Cartoon Network^[1] 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.

Way has recovered from an addiction to drugs and alcohol, being sober as of August 11, 2004, and visits a therapist when the band's not on tour. Gerard's band mates have pulled him out of a deep depression twice (before the band really got started, and as he was sobering).

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.

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.

Music and My Chemical Romance

In 2001, Way was working in the comic industry in New York when the September 11th attacks occurred. This event changed Way dramatically, and tells Spin magazine, "I literally said to myself, ‘Fuck art. I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world. I’ve gotta make a difference!" 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.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, The Misfits, and The Smiths, while Billie Joe Armstrong of Greenday influenced him to play the guitar.

The band released its first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002 under the New Jersey label Eyeball Records. Gerard Way often gots 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 then 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 , written after the death of his grandmother. The band also collaborated with The Used lead singer Bert McCracken to release a cover of the band Queen and David Bowie single Under Pressure on iTunes for Tsunami Relief charity.

In October of 2006, the band released their third album Welcome to the Black Parade. During the shoot in August for "Famous Last Words", band members Gerard Way and Bob Bryar were injured. Way suffered torn ligaments in his ankle. 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. The band continues to promote the album and is scheduled to preform at festivals and tours througout the country.

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 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". 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".

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 new 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 Kerrang! that the song was about Way, saying that "it's about someone with short blond hair". It has also been rumored that Gerard Way appears in The Used's upcoming live album, Berth .

Trivia

• Gerard Way's favorite book is The Catcher in the Rye.
• According to an AOL interview Gerard and the rest of My Chemical Romance play, World of Warcraft. Gerard plays as an undead warrior.
• Gerard Way is deathly afraid of needles, hence his lack of piercings or tattoos.
• Recently on MTV2's All That Rocks, Way was voted "Almighty King of Rock" with 63% of the total votes.
• According to an interview with NME, he is sick of New Jersey and is planning to move from there. "I've been here [New Jersey] my whole life. I need to get out. I've narrowed it down to either Portland, Oregon or Los Angeles. Houses in LA are like, a million dollars, so'd I'd prefer Portland, but it's an artsy little community. People like me might not be...welcome."
• When he lived in New Jersey, he used to stalk Christina Ricci, after finding out she lived nearby. "She looks like an alien, but there's something really beautiful about her". Ironically, he was described by Kerrang! magazine as a Ricci look alike .
• His dream car is a red Corvette with the license plate KNIVES .

References

1. ^ "Teen Titans" — Rolling Stone (2005-07-14)
2. Gerard's Bio and other Info on imnotokay.net