PETALING JAYA: This month, the world observes the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. As the two planes hit the World Trade Centre buildings, lives were lost and many in and outside the United States were affected in different ways.
However, is it true that the tragedy led to the creation of one of the coolest rock bands then?
VERDICT:
TRUE
The tragedy would lead Gerard Way to form the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. Interning at the US television channel Cartoon Network during the incident, Way was on a train when the first plane hit.
"One of the biggest reasons I started My Chemical Romance was because I was one of the people to witness 9/11 in New York City.
"That felt like the end of the world. It felt like the apocalypse," he was quoted saying in an interview with Newsweek in 2019.
"I was surrounded by hundreds of people on a dock on the Hudson River and we watched the buildings go down and there was this wave of human anguish that I’ve never felt before.
"Since then, I’ve continued to think about what we would do at the end of the world if we knew we only had a little time left," Way added.
Way was quoted saying that MCR became "a therapy” in dealing with what he had witnessed.
“So 9/11 happens and I pick up the guitar again and I write ‘Skylines And Turnstiles’," he said, adding that he would then contact his other bandmates - drummer Matt Pelissier, lead guitarist Ray Toro, and bassist Mikey Way to join him.
“It became my therapy from the PTSD that everyone had experienced from 9/11 and processing that.”
The band would belt out popular songs such as "Helena", "Welcome to the Black Parade", "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" and "Teenagers", resonating with the hearts of many (emo) teenagers who were making sense of the world and their lives.
In an Instagram posting in conjunction with the band's 20th anniversary in 2021 (https://www.instagram.com/p/
"The past 20 years have been about healing, dusting off and getting back up and living life to our highest potential. On this monumental anniversary let us all think about those we lost that day and the days since," the post read.
MCR added, "... when in doubt, love is and always will be the answer."
Source:
https://www.unilad.com/music/
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/
