The Biography of a Poet
To most, Gerard Way is known to most as the front man of the much-loved band, My Chemical Romance. But when looked upon deeper than his good looks and wonderful voice, there is much beneath his skin. Not only is he a lyricist, he is a poet. Born in Newark, New Jersey on April 9, 1977, and growing up in the nearby city of Belleville, Way went to college to become an artist, or more specifically, a creator of cartoons. He did not even begin writing music until late 2001, though he did go to a Bruce Springsteen concert with his mother at the age of four.
He made this decision to become a musician after the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11th. Way recalls actually seeing people falling out of the towers. At that time, he worked for the well-know cartoon company, Cartoon Network. He decided at that time, he had to get out of his dark bedroom in the basement and the small, stuffy business room at the Network’s building, and actually make something of himself.
Way got together his younger brother, Mikey, and his two friends, Matt Pelissier, who became the ex-drummer of the band, and Geoff Rickley from the band, Thursday. With Way’s little brother came Mikey’s friend, Ray Toro, who became the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for the band. Together, they started writing the first songs for My Chemical Romance. In 2002, they came out with there first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, which got produced by Geoff Rickley. Right before the album was released, Way and the rest of the band got introduced to another band Rickley recorded for, Pencey Prep. Out of that came Frank Iero, who became the rhythm guitarist and backup vocals. He is the youngest in the band. For the first album, they used one of his songs, and recorded him onto the album after it had been finished but not released.
Mikey Way was the one to come up with the name of the band, My Chemical Romance. He is one of Gerard’s number one heroes. The two have always been close, even as kids. Together, the band, which included Gerard and Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro, and Matt Pelissier, created another album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Unfortunately, during that time, Pelissier started messing up at concert and showing up late for practices, and they let him go, replacing him with the sound tech for a fellow band called the Used, Bob Bryar.
One song Way has written, Honey, this Mirror isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us, became world known. The most popular of his songs are Headfirst for Halos, which was actually written by Frank Iero, Helena and I’m Not Okay (I Promise), off Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and Welcome to the Black Parade and Famous Last Words off of his most recent album, Welcome to the Black Parade. Way is currently touring, and is married to Lyn-Z, the bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence, who he married on September 3rd, 2007.
