The Pop Star Who Helped My Chemical Romance Land Their First No. 1 Album
Last week, My Chemical Romance landed their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with the 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal third LP: The Black Parade. Apparently, renowned pop star Olivia Rodrigo indirectly helped them do it by allowing her third LP (you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love) to fall to No. 2.
How Olivia Rodrigo Helped MCR Land Their First No. 1 Album
As Loudwire wrote on Facebook last Monday (Nov. 2), the new version of The Black Parade (which peaked at No. 2 back in 2006) is also “the first-ever anniversary album to top the Billboard 200 Album Chart.”
Per Billboard (on Nov. 1), the record “jump[ed] from No. 139 to No. 1 on the Nov. 7-dated chart."
They added:
In the week ending Oct. 29, it earned 78,000 equivalent album units in the United States (up 653%) according to Luminate — largely driven by pure album sales (68,000, up 2,082%). . . . The Black Parade’s 20-year-wait to reach No. 1 is the longest ever for an album, surpassing the 15-year and nine-month wait for Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits, following his death in 2024.
Billboard then explained that Rodrigo’s latest studio collection – which arrived this past June and held the No. 1 spot for three weeks – dropped “a rung [last week] to No. 2 (64,000 equivalent album units earned, down 15%).”
Rather than be upset about this, however, The New York Times stated (on Nov. 5) that Rodrigo indirectly allowed MCR to take the top spot from her.
After mentioning that Rodrigo was influenced by The Black Parade, The New York Times clarified that she attended a show during MCR’s 2026 tour commemorating the record: “Rodrigo was an attendee of a New York tour stop, posting to Instagram stories the band’s ‘Black Parade’ title-track performance along with multiple heart emoji.” The publication noted that “Rodrigo visited the band the night of the show” as well.
You can see Rodrigo's Instagram Story here and below (reposted by user girlsoinlove.updates):
The New York Times then clarified that MCR’s manager – Brian Schechter – “interpreted her public support for the band as a selfless act.”
“She could easily try to block the band from being No. 1, but from everything I saw, she didn’t do anything. . . . She just let it organically play out” Schechter said [via The New York Times]. Fans speculate that Rodrigo could’ve done several things to keep her chart crown, including doing her own album reissue and/or putting out fresh (alternative) versions of you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.
Instead, she indirectly passed the torch to My Chemical Romance (who, as far as we can tell, haven’t said anything publicly about The Black Parade earning them their first No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200).
READ MORE: My Chemical Romance Confirm 2027 Plans for New Album + 'Probably' No Shows
Other MCR News
My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way shared some big news regarding the group’s 2027 plans during their Oct. 30 show at the Hollywood Bowl. Specifically, and as Loudwire reported last week, he announced that MCR are planning to “make a new record” and “probably not [do] any shows” next year.
Following their performance of “DESTROYA,” Way declared:
You know, sometimes shit will sound, like, intentionally vague, when really it’s just to protect everybody’s feelings involved. So, yeah. Next year, we wanna go make a record. We’re probably not doing any shows [in 2027]. There’s no secret code to that. I mean, maybe if we get really rusty when we’re making something, we’re like, “Alright, let’s call the band ‘Helena’ or something and show up.” But, you know, seriously. We want to go do that and then hopefully, we’ll see you guys in 2028.
You know, ‘cause that’s some other shit I just wanna get out of the way, man! Let’s have fun. You deserve to have fun! You don’t wanna be stressed out, thinking, like, “Oh, what does this number on his box mean?” We actually don’t really do that shit. Do you know how much of that shit is coincidence?
At the end of October, My Chemical Romance also released a mysterious and brief animated film called Prelude to the End.
As Loudwire described:
‘Prelude to the End’ is a nearly eight-minute animated film that follows a girl named Astrid who appears to be in a mysterious school that is led by some questionable characters. It's dark in the same vein as the presentation for ‘The Black Parade’ album. The project is a collaborative effort between My Chemical Romance and visual artist and actor Lauren Tsai. Fellow musicians Phoebe Bridgers and Billie Eilish are among the voice actors, along with Japanese video game producer Hideo Kojima.
Various fan theories about Prelude to the End quickly emerged, including that it confirms that MCR’s next record will be the long-rumored The Paper Kingdom and/or that the tracklist to the next record Is hiding in the video.
Oh, and people have been finding one-of-a-kind pieces of art within certain copies of the Black Parade 20th anniversary reissue. Pretty cool, right?!
Is The Black Parade your favorite MCR LP? What do you think of Rodrigo’s indirect involvement in it reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200? Let us know!
Also, be sure to check out our list of 35 bands that are “dad rock” now (and there’s nothing you can do about it) below!
35 Bands That Are 'Dad Rock' Now (And There's Nothing You Can Do About It)
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
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