User:Illspirit/Gerard Way

Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) in Belleville, New Jersey is front man and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance, in which his brother Mikey Way plays bass.

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 Helena), 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. 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. 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 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.

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.

Health
He has recovered from an addiction to drugs and alcohol, being sober as of August 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). However, he still enjoys smoking [Marlboro] red cigarettes.

Art
He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999. As a child, Gerard grew up in a dangerous and crime-ridden neighborhood. Way has said that he was never really allowed outside to play when he was younger. Instead, he remained indoors and created his own imaginary worlds in his head. This led to his love for artwork later in life. Gerard aspired to be a comic book artist (he loved comic books, and his favorite superhero was always Wolverine) before forming My Chemical Romance in 2001. He pitched a cartoon for Cartoon Network called "The Breakfast Monkey", but it wasn't purchased. He has also done the artwork for the My Chemical Romance albums and used to design merchandise for the band "Thursday".

Discography & Lyrics
Way and his band released their first CD, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002, have released a CD titled Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in June of 2004, and also their third concept album The Black Parade in October 2006. Way is always trying to write new material, and he usually 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 then girlfriend.

Musical Influences & Tastes
Their musical influences include Iron Maiden, the Misfits, and David Bowie. He has undoubtedly confirmed that he thinks Brody Dalle from the Distillers is hot. His favorite band is now Iron Maiden, but is still a David Bowie fan. He has been obsessed with revenge ever since he heard the Black Flag song 'Revenge'. He owns the same color Stratocasters as Billie Joe Armstrong (front man of the smash pop/punk trio Green Day).

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 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.
 * Gerard Way's favourite book is The Catcher in the Rye.
 * Gerard's favourite band is Queen. (Magazine Interview)
 * While performing on the Jimmy Kimmel show, live from New York, Gerard has dyed his hair black again.
 * According to an AOL interview Gerard and the rest of My Chemical Romance play World of Warcraft. Gerard is said to be an Undead Warrior.