Gerard Way

Way has been married to Lindsey Ann Ballato, the bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence, since September 3, 2007. They have one daughter, who was born on May 27, 2009, and the family lives in Los Angeles.

Way was diagnosed with scoliosis as a child. He has also discussed longstanding battles with depression, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse, describing music and art as outlets for dealing with those experiences.

Way was raised in Belleville, New Jersey, with his younger brother Mikey Way. He first sang publicly in fourth grade while playing Peter Pan in a school musical. His grandmother, Elena Lee Rush, encouraged his singing, painting, and performing, and later became the subject of the My Chemical Romance song "Helena."

Although Way originally wanted to become a guitarist, he eventually focused on art after playing in short-lived bands including Ray Gun Jones and Nancy Drew, the latter with future My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro. He was working as an intern at Cartoon Network during the September 11, 2001 attacks. In response to the experience, he wrote the lyrics to "Skylines and Turnstiles," which became My Chemical Romance's first song.

Way became the band's lead vocalist and co-founder, with Mikey playing bass and Ray Toro joining as guitarist. My Chemical Romance released albums including Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Black Parade, and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. The band broke up in 2013 and announced its reunion in 2019.

After My Chemical Romance ended, Way signed with Warner Bros. Records as a solo artist. His debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, was released in 2014 and drew on his interest in Britpop. He performed with The Hormones at the 2015 Soundwave festivals in Australia and released two previously unreleased Hesitant Alien tracks, "Don't Try" and "Pinkish," in 2016.

Way later released the singles "Baby You're a Haunted House," "Getting Down the Germs," and "Dasher." He co-wrote "Getting Down the Germs" with Ray Toro, while "Dasher" featured additional vocals from Lydia Night. He also collaborated with Toro on covers of "Hazy Shade of Winter" and "Happy Together," and recorded "Here Comes the End" with Judith Hill for The Umbrella Academy.

His other collaborations include the song "Safe and Sound" with Japanese singer Kyosuke Himuro for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete, vocals on Deadmau5's "Professional Griefers," and a guest appearance on Ibaraki's "Rōnin." In 2025, Way and members of The Interrupters announced The Mock-Ups, a project in which he provides vocals and bass.

Way pursued comic-book writing before becoming a full-time musician, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 1999. He co-created The Umbrella Academy with artist Gabriel Bá. The first volume, Apocalypse Suite, was published in 2007 and won the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. Later volumes included Dallas and Hotel Oblivion.

Way also co-created The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys with Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan, and wrote for Marvel's alternate-universe series Edge of Spider-Verse. His story introduced Peni Parker and the SP//dr suit, characters that later appeared in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

He founded DC Comics' Young Animal imprint and wrote Doom Patrol and Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye. Way co-executive-produced the television adaptation of The Umbrella Academy, which ran from 2019 to 2024. He also co-wrote and co-directed an episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! and was part of the writing team nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.