My Chemical Romance has broken a chart record after re-releasing The Black Parade album.
The 20th anniversary reissue of the 2006 LP has become the rock band’s first number one album in its 25-year career.
According to Billboard, The Black Parade has set a record for the longest time between an album’s original release and reaching the number one spot on the Billboard 200, taking 20 years to top the chart.
It overtook Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits, which reached number one 15 years after its 2008 release, following the country star’s death from stomach cancer in February 2024 at the age of 62.
The Black Parade shifted 78,000 equivalent units, with 68,000 coming from pure sales and 10,000 album-equivalent streaming units in the latest tracking week, which ended on 29 October.
In a statement about the 20th anniversary of The Black Parade, the band said: “Twenty years ago, we wrote what would become The Black Parade, our third record and the follow-up to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.
“At the time, we could never have imagined what the record would mean for the band. All we knew is that we had made something crazy, and something we couldn’t wait to get it out into the world.
“For the first time, we have included everything we finished during those sessions in a single collection. As importantly, we asked James Jean to revisit the world of The Black Parade and create three new pieces of art.
“What he has crafted is a beautiful collection of a few iconic characters from the record during that era. James is truly a one-of-a-kind artist, and so important to how this record was presented to the world.
“We are extremely grateful for meeting him all those years ago, and agreeing now to make something new.”
The Black Parade’s chart success comes months after My Chemical Romance hinted they could be working on their first new album in 15 years.
Their last studio album was 2010’s Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, but lead singer Gerard Way, 49, has said the group has “always wanted to make another record”.
The Helena hitmakers, including guitarists Ray Toro, 49, and Frank Iero, 44, and bassist Mikey Way, 46, have only released one new song, 2022’s The Foundations of Decay, since reuniting in 2019.
But Gerard suggested more music could be on the way, telling fans during their gig at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on 12 September that they “hope that life allows us to” make another album.
