My chemical romance biography 2012

Tom Bryant's excellent new MCR biography The True Lives of My Chemical Romance is the definitive portrait of the influential New Jersey band, written with the band's blessing.

Here's seven important life lessons we learned while leafing through its pages

1. Near-Death Experiences have a way of focussing the mind

In his teens, MCR vocalist Gerard Way worked in a comic book in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

My chemical romance biography 2012

Working late one night, the teenager was confronted by two armed robbers, who put a gun to the back off his head and demanded he pull out some special limited edition comic books they believed to be valuable. When the thieves opted not to put a bullet in the teenager’s head, Way made himself a promise that he’d do everything in his power to escape the traditional Jersey routine of “drinking, fucking and working a shit job.” Music and art became his escape route.

2.