Alt-Rock Band My Chemical Romance Splits Up, But 'Can Never Die'

Alternative rock band My Chemical Romance -- Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Mikey Way and Frank Iero -- are breaking up after 12 years.

"Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing,” the New Jersey band announced Friday. “We've gotten to go places we never knew we would. We've been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We've shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure."

Though My Chemical Romance’s public announcement makes no mention of why the band members chose to split up, lead singer Gerard Way posted an essay on the band’s demise that may clear things up for fans.

While he says there was not one single reason for My Chemical Romance’s split, he assures fans that it was amicable.

“There are many reasons My Chemical Romance ended,” Way wrote. “The triggerman is unimportant... And I can assure you there was no divorce, argument, failure, accident, villain, or knife in the back that caused this, again this was no one’s fault, and it had been quietly in the works, whether we knew it or not, long before any sensationalism, scandal, or rumor.”

Way ended his heartfelt goodbye to My Chemical Romance with a thank-you message to the band's fans.

"I want to thank every single fan. I have learned from you, maybe more than you think you've learned from me," Way wrote. "My Chemical Romance is done. But it can never die. It is alive in me, in the guys, and it is alive inside all of you. I always knew that, and I think you did too."

My Chemical Romance formed in New Jersey in 2001, releasing their debut album, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love,” the following year. In 2004, the band hit the mainstream with their emo-pop record “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.” In less than a year, the album had gone platinum, and the band followed up their success with the 2006 rock opera “The Black Parade.” The band released their final album in 2010, “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.”