My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated MCR and My Chem) is an American post-hardcore band originally from New Jersey. The current members are Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro and Bob Bryar. The genre of music the band plays is highly debated. The band cites their influences from other groups such as Thursday, Iron Maiden, the Smiths, The Cure, and the Misfits . The band members hail from Belleville and Kearny, New Jersey (except drummer Bob Bryar, from Chicago, Illinois). Bassist Mikey Way coined the band's name from a book entitled Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, by Irvine Welsh.
The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and ex-drummer Matt Pelissier. The first song they wrote was Skylines and Turnstiles, which was written by Gerard about his feelings on the September 11th terrorist attack. Shortly after, Ray Toro, Mikey Way and Frank Iero would join. Mikey Way and Gerard Way are half brothers.
The band then recorded their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, and released it in 2002 on Eyeball Records. After the release they toured with bands such as The Used, Thrice, and Taking Back Sunday.
MCR signed a deal with Reprise Records in 2003 and began working on their second album. 2004 saw the release of that album, titled Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, which would go platinum a year later. The album contained three singles: I'm Not Okay (I Promise), Helena and The Ghost of You.
