Breakups are hard, especially when it’s one of your favorite bands. Many of us still feel the sting from My Chemical Romance’s split back in 2013. Former lead singer Gerard Way explained the breakup in an interview with Zane Lowe saying, “It wasn’t an easy thing to come to. It was sad because it wasn’t a situation where anybody hated each other.”
Despite the band ending on seemingly good terms, it was a hard pill to swallow for fans. To make matters worse, there was a fake reunion announcement a few years back which reopened the wound.
Joe Jonas was the first to let the cat out of the bag in June. During an interview on a UK radio station, he revealed that MCR had been rehearsing next to his band, Jonas. He kept it vague by saying “I thought they broke up, so I don’t know”.
Upon hearing this, former My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero was not too happy. In an interview with Zach Sang Show, he shot back claiming that Joe was essentially name-dropping in an attempt to help Jonas be taken more seriously as a rock band. He then went straight for the kneecaps saying “People aren’t gonna forget that you’re a Disney band, Bro. Sorry, it’s not gonna happen.” Ouch, Joe, that must have hurt more than listening to a Taylor Swift song.
After that, things got pretty quiet. Fans’ hearts just couldn’t handle another fake-out. Finally, it happened. On October 31st, an LA reunion show was announced! Next, four more shows were also announced. Besides the Cali show, the band will be performing in New Zealand, Japan, and twice in Australia.
The response was bigger than the band had predicted. According to Rock Sound, MCR gained 59,000 followers on Twitter (probably due to their handle being mentioned 40,000 times) and had 11.3 million more streams following the announcement. Even the Wikipedia page for the band experienced a 132% increase from their standard daily average.
Considering the majority of these reunion shows are in other countries, most of us won’t have the chance to see the band. That doesn’t cut down on the excitement, however. Just knowing that the group is back together rocking out is enough. Fans are just glad it wasn’t “The End”.