[12] My Chemical Romance offered free downloads through PureVolume and the social networking website MySpace, where they gained an initial fan base.
[23] That same year, My Chemical Romance collaborated with The Used for a cover of the Queen and David Bowie song, "Under Pressure", which was released as a benefit single for tsunami relief on iTunes and other Internet outlets.
[47][48] The band later featured on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour in 2007, along with Placebo, Mindless Self Indulgence, Saosin, Taking Back Sunday and HIM.
[58] The band then announced that they would be releasing "a collection of nine never-before-seen live videos, straight from the encore set of the Mexico City show from October 2007" during their Black Parade World Tour, titled ¡Venganza!.
[60][61] It discussed the suicide of a thirteen-year-old British girl named Hannah Bond, who supposedly took her life because of her involvement in an "emo cult" which the newspaper directly associated with My Chemical Romance and their fans, and their then-current album The Black Parade.
[67] The Daily Mail defended its position saying its coverage was "balanced and restrained" and "in the public interest" and that they were reporting genuine concerns raised by the coroner at the inquest.
[83] This was later confirmed by Iero on the band's website, announcing that the album was "done, finished, kaput, in the proverbial can, and being played loudly as we drive way too fast in our respective cars.
[91] Rock Sound had a preview of the album and gave a positive review, commenting "the way they've used everything they learned on The Black Parade and tightened up in certain places feels natural and confident" and that it sees "the creativity of the band taking flight musically, graphically and literally.
[98] On April 28, 2011, US broadcaster Glenn Beck labelled the My Chemical Romance song "Sing" as "propaganda" after it was featured and covered on the US musical drama TV series Glee in February 2011.
The lyrics that Beck pointed out were: "Cleaned up corporation progress, dying in the process / Children that can talk about it living on the railways [sic] / People moving sideways / Sell it till your last days / Buy yourself the motivation / Generation nothing / Nothing but a dead scene / Product of a white dream".
Gerard Way responded to the accusation on the band's official website, writing, "I think the word Glenn Beck was looking for was 'subversion' not 'propaganda', because I don't know what it would be considered propaganda for—truth?
[108] According to the October 2012 issue of Q Magazine, Frank Iero reported early sessions for MCR's next album with the new drummer Jarrod Alexander were progressing well.
[110][111][112]Gerard Way posted an extended tweet on his Twitter account two days after the website announcement, in which he confirmed the disbanding of the group but denied that altercations between band members were the reason for the split.
[113] On March 25, 2014, the band released a greatest hits collection, titled May Death Never Stop You, containing material spanning their entire career, as well a single unreleased track.
[120] Rhythm guitarist Frank Iero sporadically collaborated with My Chemical Romance keyboardist James Dewees, forming Death Spells[121] and performing in Reggie and the Full Effect (alongside Ray Toro), releasing No Country for Old Musicians on November 19, 2013.
[122] Afterwards, he announced via his official website that he signed to Staple Records and would be releasing a full-length solo album titled Stomachaches under the moniker of "frnkiero andthe cellabration".
[123] Bassist Mikey Way formed Electric Century along with Sleep Station vocalist David Debiak in 2014 and released their debut single "I Lied" in February 2014.
[127][128] On July 20, 2016, the band posted on their official Twitter and Facebook pages a video with the piano intro from "Welcome to the Black Parade", ending with a cryptic date, "9/23/16".
[136] In a discussion of his work on the comic book Doom Patrol, Gerard Way told Billboard, "I wouldn't count (a reunion) out, but at the same time everybody's doing stuff in their lives now that they're really enjoying.
[146] In January 2020, the group announced plans to present one, then two, then three concerts at Stadium MK (Milton Keynes, England), on June 18, 20 and 21, 2020, as tickets for each day sold out within minutes.
"[231] Way has stated that the band is heavily influenced by Queen,[232] Iron Maiden, Misfits, Black Flag, At the Gates, Descendents, Pantera, Van Halen,[233] the Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Smiths, Morrissey,[234] and Thursday.
[236] In a 2007 issue of Kerrang!, when asked to list the songs that influenced the band's music the most, they listed Taking Back Sunday's "MakeDamnSure", Say Anything's "Alive with the Glory of Love", Thursday's "Understanding in a Car Crash", Kill Hannah's "Lips like Morphine", Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown", the Misfit's "Dust to Dust", the Bled's "You Know Whose Seatbelt", Killswitch Engage's "Fixation of Darkness", Idlewild's "Love Steals Us from Loneliness", Alkaline Trio's "Radio", Thrice's "Red Sky", Denali's "Surface", Soilwork's "Bastard Chain" and Helloween's "Twilight of the Gods".
[237] Frank Iero's guitar work draws from Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and Jack White, while Ray Toro cites Megadeth, Metallica, Pantera, and Iron Maiden as influences.
[238] My Chemical Romance's other influences include the Stooges, Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Clash, Minor Threat, Nirvana, and Operation Ivy.
[170] In 2022, The Guardian wrote that during the height of their career they were "unlikely superstars, misfits who inadvertently infiltrated the mainstream" but upon their reunion tour, the band would "return to a pop cultural landscape they helped to define".
[68] The New York Times's Christopher R. Weingarten has noted that The Black Parade inspired a number of 2010s musicians in different genres, including Twenty One Pilots, Crown the Empire, Famous Last Words, Halsey, Fun, Billie Eilish and Post Malone, and even influenced the sound of movie musicals like Frozen II.
"[246] In Paste magazine, Eli Enis wrote that "it is pretty much accepted canon at this point that My Chemical Romance are one of the most significant rock bands this side of the millennium.
"[247] James McMahon of The Independent stated that Gerard Way "set a blueprint for emo's image of pale face, raven-black hair and perhaps a red tie, for almost 20 years.
"[248] In Archer, Vince Ruston commented on the band's popularity in the queer and LGBT communities: "My Chemical Romance wanted to speak to and raise up every person who had ever felt outcast, downtrodden, or alienated.
[265] The band reunited out of the public eye in 2017[143][144][145] and announced a reunion show on October 31, 2019, which took place in Los Angeles on December 20, 2019, extending this to a small tour consisting of dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan a week later.