My Chemical Romance calls it quits

By Mikael Wood

March 23, 2013 9:30 AM PT

My Chemical Romance has broken up.

Following a decade-plus run in which it ascended from the emo-punk underground to platinum-plated pop stardom, the New Jersey band announced its dissolution Friday night in a statement posted on its website.

“Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing,” it wrote. “We’ve gotten to go places we never knew we could. We’ve been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.”

That adventure included four studio albums -- two of which sold more than a million copies each -- as well as arena tours with Green Day and Linkin Park, several visually striking music videos and the use of its song “Sing” on “Glee.”

The band’s last record, “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,” came out in 2010, while its final concert appears to have been a performance last year at the Bamboozle Festival in Asbury Park, N.J. (In February it released the fifth in a series of five singles containing material recorded prior to “Danger Days.”)

Regarding the bright digital-punk textures of its final studio album, frontman Gerard Way told me in 2010 that “Danger Days” reflected his growing interest in acts such as M.I.A. and Sleigh Bells.

“The most cliche rock-and-roll thing to ever say is, ‘We’re here to save rock,’” he said. “It’s like, ugh, drown me. This is actually trying to destroy it. We created this anti-matter bomb to blow up in the face of rock.”

By early Saturday the band’s breakup post had been “liked” on Facebook more than 14,000 times, an indication of My Chemical Romance’s huge popularity on social media. “Beyond any sadness, what I feel the most is pride,” Way wrote Friday on Twitter.

Watch the video for “Helena,” from 2004’s breakout “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,” below.