The Grammy nominations for 2023 have been released and while no pop punk fan was surprised, they were certainly disappointed. If the Grammys intended for this to be the year where they win back credibility from the increasingly skeptical public, then they have failed. The Grammys have once again proven that they do not reflect fans or even the music culture through many odd nominations and notable snubs. And in the pop punk scene, this disconnect between industry ladder climbing and artistic integrity is displayed the most clearly with My Chemical Romance (MCR) being snubbed with no nominations for 2023.
My Chemical Romance reunited in 2019 with a show at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in LA, after officially breaking up in 2013. Their first tour after reuniting commenced in 2022, after being postponed due to the pandemic.
Despite their lengthy six-year break, this comeback tour has been their largest one in their career since The Black Parade was released in 2006. Covering Europe and North America, the tour has grossed millions and has sold hundreds of thousands of tickets. But the highest indicator of their relevance is the multigenerational audience that attended these shows. Not just returning fans from the 2000s, but a new generation who is just as dedicated as the fans before them.
On top of a wildly successful tour, My Chemical Romance released their first single since ‘Fake Your Death’ from their greatest hits album in 2014. ‘Foundations of Decay’ was released on May 12, 2022. This six-minute song that was released with no prior promotion peaked at #2 on the Billboard US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, number 7 on Billboard’s US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and number 1 on the Official Charts’ UK Rock & Metal.
When it came to their performances, My Chemical Romance did not disappoint. Their stages were decorated with an elaborate post apocalypse background set complete with smoke and lighting to fit each song. Starting each show off strong with ‘Foundations of Decay’, they would then dive into a set list that is changed every night to make every show its own unique experience. Featuring many songs from their early years and even some spruced up demos, allowing long-time fans to hear songs that My Chemical Romance hadn’t played live, or live in over a decade. Fans got to see Gerard Way (lead vocalist) take up theatrics with many costumes throughout the tour, Mikey Way (bassist) perform with new found confidence and enthusiasm and Ray Toro (guitarist) drinking wine between songs, his guitar solos still top notch. Frank Iero (guitarist) who broke his right wrist and sprained his left wrist in August 2021 and deals with a shoulder injury from an accident in 2016, demonstrated his resilience and passion by playing through the pain and fully contributing his part to all of their overall incredible shows.
With all of this, fans were expecting some recognition from the academy. Many on various social media sites were predicting Grammy nominations in ‘best rock song’ or for ‘best rock performance.’ Though My Chemical Romance was not nominated at all for the 2023 Grammys.
From Turnstile being nominated in both the ‘best rock performance’ category and ‘best metal performance’ category, sometimes questioning the Grammy choices doesn’t have to do with the quality of the musicians but on their categorization and why certain groups are favoured for multiple nominations out of the entire industry.
One hit wonder GAYLE was nominated for ‘song of the year’ for ‘abcdefu.’ The song blew up on TikTok, but has also been criticized as being a marketing ploy pushed and supported by her label. A song that used the strategy of releasing multiple remixes to keep it in the charts, a strategy notably done by Lil X Nas with his single ‘Old Town Road’. In that context, her nomination is not a surprise. Also, it is notable that GAYLE opened for My Chemical Romance on their swarm tour for their Ireland shows.
But it was the Machine Gun Kelly (MGK)’s nomination for ‘best rock album’ for his album Mainstream Sellout that seemed to get on pop punk fans’ nerves. While this nomination has nothing to do with My Chemical Romance who did not release an album this past year, MGK is a very polarizing figure in pop punk. For those who are not a fan of MGK, this symbolizes the music industry using award shows as advertisement and rewarding opportunists instead of those with a passion for pop punk and commemorating songs that have influenced the music culture.
While MGK is undeniably a part of the pop punk revival with two pop punk albums released with dedicated fans, his recognition over the rest of the scene was always going to ruffle some feathers.
Because ultimately, MGK stands on the shoulders of giants of the pop punk scene.
MGK’s sound comes from the creators of the pop punk scene of the 2000’s. From using their sound without revolutionizing it he sells familiar as new to his fans. From covering Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’ to featuring Bert McCracken from The Used, his pop punk career is based on nostalgia instead of a new contribution to the sound and culture.
Paramore released their single ‘This Is Why’ this year and have been touring this past year. They also received no Grammy nominations.
Other significant acts right now include Avril Lavigne, an icon from the 2000s scene returning to her roots. Her album Love Sux was released in 2022 and was accompanied with a tour. She was also not nominated.
Not only is MGK building his pop punk career based on the iconic bands of the era, he can’t even take credit for starting the pop punk revitalization. Besides predictable cultural patterns of nostalgia every few decades, Halsey and Yungblud’s collaboration with Travis Barker for ‘11 Minutes’ was arguably a more significant kick off point. That is what put the wind beneath the wings of Travis Barker’s career for him to be featured on many more singles and getting attention outside of Blink-182. It’s not a surprise that MGK would later release songs featuring both Travis Barker and Yungblud, and a song with a feature from Halsey on Tickets to my Downfall. On Mainstream Sellout, a collaboration with Willow Smith, a prime example of celebrity nepotism who has the ability to get ahead in the music industry in no matter the genre she chooses, is likely to solidify among old school pop punk fans that MGK is nothing but a mainstream sellout.
Pop punk fans were always prepositioned to be skeptical of MGK. Switching genres after starting a huge public feud with Eminem and losing was never a good look. It is hard to interpret that in any other way but opportunistic. Something that goes against the ideals of punk, emphasizing the pop in pop punk.
My Chemical Romance on the other hand demonstrated their commitment to genuine artistic expression even in a comeback tour which are notorious for being cash grabs. This was seen most clearly when they decided to play with the concept of selling out at the ‘When We Were Young Festival’ in Las Vegas. They started their first performance coming onstage with prosthetics making three of the four members look elderly and dressed in their old Revenge era regalia as they hobbled on stage with their stagehands, dressed as nurses, helping them. Mikey Way, the only young one, had fake blood running down his chin suggesting a sinister reason for his apparent youth. This theme was foreshadowed by their merch that night featuring an elderly version of the lovers of the Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge album cover and a shirt that simply said ‘merch’. Secret meaning was also found in the dollar bill confetti whose serial code turned out to be the coordinates to a Las Vegas bankruptcy centre. My Chemical Romance was not just rehashing old songs for profit, they turned the concept of the ‘When We Were Young Festival’ on its head and delivered daring performance art.
MCR and MGK show the duality of the pop punk scene right now have shown us who they are again and again, which only makes the perception of the Grammys being out of touch stronger in the minds of pop punk fans and begs the question, who is going to actually tune in to watch?
This trend is not isolated to the Grammys, but other award shows that reward cult-like fan devotion which has become the way of the music industry.
Recently, at the American Music Awards (AMA), MGK won ‘favourite rock artist’ out of five nominees that featured Ghost, Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He took the opportunity to deliver a confusing and contradictory speech. After a quick thank you to his fans, he shares a few jokes about the AMA’s needing taller mike stands and how inconvenient his fashion statement purple suit, adorned with large spikes, is to pee in.
From here he continues on to say: “Speaking of uncomfortable, there have been some people in the rock community who’ve called me a tourist, but they’re wrong. I’m a rocket man.”
Surely the ‘some people in the rock community’ he was referring to couldn’t have been Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance, who on Two Minutes To Late Night’s podcast from three months ago indirectly referred to MGK as a tourist of the rock scene with the comment “I don’t back tourists, if you know what I mean”. This moment that was likely a polite hold back from criticism, was picked up by MGK fans as shade on Twitter around the time the podcast aired.
Perhaps this ‘tourist’ comment is a common sentiment in the pop punk scene, but on the case that it’s not it would seem that MGK is developing a habit of going after the top dogs of the current genre he is in, as seen with his hugely public feud with Eminem that likely lead to him leaving the rap genre.
MGK continued on expanding on his grandiose ‘I’m a rocket man’ claim; “We weren’t born on the moon but we looked at it and we were curious and then we went there, supposedly.” His interesting hesitance to fully believe that the 1969 moon landing was real only makes his comparison of his career to the moon landing confusing because he was implying something he never likely never intended to imply. By his own words his music career is like the moon landing, possibly it was faked.
This still cannot distract from the fact that he is combating the ‘tourist criticism’ that he brought up by describing his career as being a tourist. Just a grander kind tourist, a space tourist travelling through uncharted territory. Although perhaps a space colonizer would be a more accurate title, because with no mention of creating, he is just exploring the universe of music and genres that was created before him and adopting them.
Finally, he finishes his speech with: “These last two rock albums were to me, me going to the moon. But I’m not done exploring the universe yet and I am all genres-“ before the sound cuts off. So far he is two genres, but the statement ‘I am all genres’ seems quite reminiscent of the viral meme “I am weed” from a conversation with Megan Fox. Overall it made for a self-absorbed, attention getting and possibly drama starting statement.
And this is what it comes down to: how the current pop punk revitalization movement is captured in the academy nominations. It demonstrates how the Grammys blatantly represents themselves as an institution of the music industry. The Grammys do not have a moral obligation to capture the essence of the music culture. They do not have to commemorate and honour musicians making impactful contributions of art. The Grammys have chosen to reflect instead the worst side of a competitive music industry rewarding the best players of the system, instead of the ones dedicated to their craft.