Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance, and the power of the Rockstar

I am a huge My Chemical Romance fan. I saw them live in July during one of the California shows, and I knew the words to every song. The night was magic, the air itself felt like it bent to the band’s power and on their command. Frontman Gerard Way is leading it. Emotionally controlling an entire stadium. He had us; he hypnotized us. It was glorious. About a week after the show, back in old routines, I was drawing. I make art all the time because I believe it must be done. I was drawing what the concert looked like, all the tiny lights from every audience member became the sky. All for one man, all for one band. I realized in that moment the power that one band had over hundreds of people. It’s only six guys on stage, but the air would mold to the whims of those on stage. From the first chord and the first words “now come one, come all to this tragic affair”, no one could stop. I felt every emotion I've ever had, and it hit me, we don’t have that anymore. In the modern world, we have one person standing on stage lip-syncing to music they didn't write while a band gets paid for the night to sit and pretend to play their instruments. Gerard Way is the last generation of rockstar, the last of a tradition, and the man is 48 years old. 

But what about it is so unique? What about it is so powerful? Why do older generations still idolize the rock stars of their generation? Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Freddie Mercury. Why are they remembered over all else? Dead too young, partially. I’d argue that they’re as historically important as wars and news. Because they give us a window into how the youth at the time felt. But what about now? What does Taylor Swift tell us? 

That humans are mindless robots. 

There was Kurt Cobain. Depressed, punk-rock. Teens were done being ignored. Cobain wasn’t meant to be the voice of the generation, it’s just that he was what reminded Generation Xers who they were fighting against, and who they were fighting for. His death shocked them as much as 9/11 a few years later. 

Here we are again. 9/11. September 11th, 2001. One Gerard Way was on a ferry into New York on that day. 24, but thinking about everyone around him instead. Knew no one in the buildings, but felt deep sadness for everyone who did. Calls up his friends, and they start a band. My Chemical Romance. 

Art and history are innately tied together. This story tells us that. Way saw a historical event, and then created the cultural response. That’s not the power of the rockstar though. 

The power is in the band. Gerard is up with 3 friends and his little brother, but he’s not the star. Or he never tries to be. He’ll pass the microphone to Frank, Ray, or Mikey. He’ll draw your eye to them. He gives all three of them space to be. to be on stage too. He’s the face, the voice, but they all deliver the message. 

The message being to “carry on” even when people die, even when terrible things happen because they always do. To stay alive because it gets better, to love because it’s more powerful than fear. To live because your enemies want you to die. 

But he is “just a man, I’m not a hero, I'm just a boy, who had to sing this song”.

He told us his own power. He’s just a man. 

Taylor Swift was manufactured to be a god. Her music was created to be perfect. There isn't one thing out of place, because her music, her world is a hologram. 

The rockstar is just a man, just one person. Up there, bringing his friends out into the spotlight with him. But it was never just his friends. The rockstar brings up every person into the spotlight, speaks to every person in the generation. Gives teens and young adults something of their own to defend. And they share the stage, the rock star is one of them. He’s the face. 

Taylor Swift is almost 40 years old. Gerard Way is almost 50. What’s the age difference? She’s a god, she’s been alive forever. 

He was young once, 25 releasing an album. Older than many, but still one of them. He is the god of the generation, or more accurately, the man that they chose to be their leader. The face of them. 

He’s the last in this tradition. He's nearly 50 years old. 

But he’s still the face, because no one has freed him from his position, because he can never be freed. Because the generation still needs him. because no one has come after him. 

This is a “call to arms” in a sense. Make art, make music. Be what tomorrow needs. Someone come and take the stage, take the microphone. Be louder.