My Chemical Romance hasn’t released an album of new material in more than a decade and a half, but in some ways, the band is bigger than ever. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys dropped in November 2010, and since then, the rockers have taken time away from one another, pursued solo projects, and, more recently, focused on their most successful and beloved projects together.
This week, the group manages a first for itself, and also makes history on Billboard’s most competitive albums ranking. My Chemical Romance’s incredible triumph shows just how beloved the rock act is to this day, despite an incredibly long period of relative silence. It also shows in undeniable terms that millennials are now old enough to support an entire subindustry of nostalgia, just as their parents and older generations have for decades.
My Chemical Romance scores the No. 1 album in America this week as The Black Parade rockets from No. 139 all the way to the summit. This frame marks the first time the set has conquered the Billboard 200, which ranks the most consumed albums and EPs, regardless of style, in the country.
The band recently re-released The Black Parade as a deluxe reissue to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and fans showed up to show their love in a massive way. According to Luminate, The Black Parade moved 78,000 equivalent units in the past tracking frame, with all but 10,000 of those being actual purchases.
My Chemical Romance settles into the No. 1 space on the Billboard 200 for the first time, incredibly, with a 20-year-old project. The Black Parade had previously stood out as the group’s highest-rising success on the tally, though it missed out on dominating back in the fall of 2006, instead peaking at No. 2.
The Black Parade is one of several top 10 successes from the group, and only a handful of albums. The group’s breakout release Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge topped out at No. 6, while Danger Days stalled at No. 8. My Chemical Romance has only released four studio albums, and all but one of them have become top 10 smashes on the competitive roster.
This time around, My Chemical Romance resets the all-time record for the longest wait for any album between its debut on the Billboard 200 and its first turn at No. 1. The 20-year gap outpaces country superstar Toby Keith, who posthumously collected a leader with his compilation 35 Biggest Hits. That set surged in popularity following his death in early 2024, and it needed more than 15 years to find its way to the penthouse – but of course, the two titles have taken very different routes and succeeded for very different reasons
