Gerard Way is the former frontman of the rock band My Chemical Romance. At the moment he is engaged in solo work. His debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, went on sale in 2014. Way is also known as the author of the popular comic strip "Umbrella Academy", which was recently filmed for the series.
Early biography
Gerard Way was born in 1977 in the American town of Summit (New Jersey). His father's name was Donald, and his mother was Donna Lee.
It is known that his grandmother, Elena, had a great influence on little Gerard. She taught him to draw and also bought him a guitar when he was only eight. After that, he began to play in one-day children's groups. However, Gerard soon abandoned music, preferring painting to it. The thing is that then he did not feel a great musical talent in himself.
In general, during his school years, Way did not enjoy popularity among his peers, he had a reputation as a "loser".
In 1995, Way decided to try his hand at the comic book industry and moved from his home state to New York. Here he studied at the School of Visual Arts, and in 1991 he graduated with a bachelor's degree. After that, Way did an internship for some time on the cartoon television channel Cartoon Network.
Gerard Way as My Chemical Romance
During the terrible terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, Gerard was in New York. This tragedy shocked him greatly and inspired him to write the first song (it was called "Skylines and Turnstiles"). Shortly thereafter, Gerard formed the group My Chemical Romance (MCR) and became its vocalist.
The first rehearsals were held in the attic in the house of one of its members - drummer Matt Pelissier. Three months after their formation, MCR musicians signed an agreement with Eyeball Records and began recording their debut album. It took them only ten days, from May 15 to May 25, 2002.
The first album was titled "I Brought You My Bullets", You Brought Me Your Love "(" I Give You Bullets, You Give Me Your Love ") and was released on July 23 of the same 2002.
Two years later, in 2004, the second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, was released. And in just a year, he was able to achieve platinum status. One of the tracks from this album is called "Helena". The lyrics for this composition were written by Way and it was dedicated to his grandmother, who at that time was no longer alive.
In autumn 2006, the third disc of My Chemical Romance - "The Black Parade" was released. And almost immediately, she was awarded the second position in the Billboard magazine rankings. It sold 240,000 copies in the United States in its first week. Interestingly, the cover art for this album (as well as for the previous one) was drawn directly by Gerard.
In November 2010, MCR released their next album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, produced by Rob Cavallo. Among the compositions present on this album, the song "Na Na Na" should be especially highlighted, the video for which has been in MTV rotation for quite a long time. In addition, this album includes the composition "The Only Hope For Me Is You", which became the soundtrack to the famous blockbuster "Transformers: The Dark Side of the Moon".
In the fall of 2011, the media reported that the rock group would soon begin recording their fifth album, but these plans were not destined to come true. On March 22, 2013, a record of the band's breakup appeared on the official My Chemical Romance portal, and this came as a big surprise to many. About why the group ceased to exist, its fans are still wondering.
Solo creativity
On August 19, 2014, Gerard posted a video clip for the first single from his debut album, the song "No Shows", online. The album itself was released the following month - September 30th, it was named "Hesitant Alien". In it, Way turned to the genre of Britpop, and in general, the sound of the record was different from the sound of My Chemical Romance.
In 2016, the musician published two exclusive, previously unreleased tracks - "Don't Try" and "Pinkish".
In 2018, Gerard Way presented three of his new songs to the public. The first was named Baby You're a Haunted House. The video for this song, uploaded to Youtube in October 2018, has already gained over three million views. In November 2018, the second song was released - "Getting down the Microms", it was co-written with former MCR colleague Ray Thoreau. And finally, in December 2018, the song "Dasher" appeared, in which Lydia Knight, the vocalist of the punk band The Regrettes, also took part.
Gerard Way as comic book writer
Gerard created his first full-fledged comic book series, On the Wings of the Raven, back in 1993. Bonyard Press even published two issues of this series, but then stopped working with the young author.
In 2007, Way began work on the pilot for Umbrella Academy: Suite of the Apocalypse. Gerard not only wrote the text, but also made his own drawings. However, the artist Gabriel Ba soon became a full-fledged illustrator of the project. The comic tells the story of a certain team of superheroes - seven people with supernormal abilities. They were all born in 1989. Even in infancy, Professor Reginald Hargreaves, who is actually an alien, became their adoptive father. And when Hargreaves died, six of the seven members of the superhero team attended his funeral …
In 2008, a sequel was published, titled Umbrella Academy: Dallas.
Gerard Way later co-wrote The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys with Sean Simon and Becky Clunan. This comic consists of six issues, first published by Dark Horse Comics between June 2013 and January 2014. Conceptually, this comic has something in common with the fourth disc My Chemical Romance, which has a similar title.
In 2014, Gerard wrote an alternative comic book story about Spider-Man "Edge of Spider-Verse" as part of a collaboration with Marvel Studios. This episode was released from September 10 to October 15, 2014.
In early 2019, Netflix began airing the first season of the Umbrella Academy television series, based on Way's work.
Personal information
For a long time, starting in adolescence, Gerard Way struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs. However, in recent years, he has led, in his own words, a sober lifestyle.
On September 3, 2007, Gerard Way married Lindsey Ballato, bassist of the Mindless Self Indulgence punk quartet, performing under the pseudonym Lin-3. Moreover, they formalized their relationship in Denver immediately after the final performance of MCR as part of the Projekt Revolution concert tour.
In 2009, the couple had a baby girl, Bandit Lee. At the moment Gerard, Lindsay and their daughter live in California.
