Mikey Way

Michael James Way (born September 10, 1980) is an American bass guitarist for the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance. He is also the younger brother of the band's lead vocalist, Gerard Way. Mikey has been in the band as the bass guitarist since 2001. Mikey Way can play the Highway 1 Precision Bass and, the Fender J., and the Fender Standard Precision Bass.

Early life
Mikey Way was born on September 10, 1980 to Donna Lee (née Rush) and Donald Way. Unlike his older brother, Mikey was born in Newark, New Jersey. His brother was born in Summit, New Jersey. Mikey, like his brother, both have Scottish and Italian heritage. Mikey Way and Gerard Way both grew up in Belleville, New Jersey.

During Mikey's teenage years, he stayed musically active by performing for numerous small bands with friends, and occasionally he helped his brother Gerard. One of these bands Mikey played for when he was a teenager was called Raygun Jones.

When Mikey Way was a teenager, he would illegally download Disney movies that weren't shown or released in America and sell them.

Music
Mikey Way and his brother were both inspired by many musicians. Mikey Way's first concert he ever attended was a Smashing Pumpkins concert. Mikey's favorite band is Anthrax.

Mikey Way is notably responsible for the naming of the band. When Mikey Way worked for Barnes and Nobles Book Store in Clifton, New Jersey he came across something within the title of one of the books available there. The book was called Ecstacy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, by Irvine Welsh.

When the band was lacking a bass guitar player early on, Mikey Way dropped out of college in order to learn the bass and support the band. When he dropped out of college, a major reason was for the recording of the band's first album under Eyeball Records; I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.



Before and during My Chemical Romance's first live performances, Mikey would drink large amounts of liqour to get mask and hide his fear of performing on stage in front of large amounts of people.

Mikey Way has a phobia directed from large bodies of water. This caused Mikey to avoid large swimming pools and swimming at beaches in fear that he would be attacked by sharks. During the recording of the music video to the song "The Ghost of You", the band recorded footage in a body of water in Malibu, California. When a boat used during the shooting gave in to weight put on it from camera crew, extras, costumes, and the band themselves, the band almost drowned. This was not planned for the video. Mikey Way revealed this incident in an interview with FUSE.

During the recording of My Chemical Romance's third studio album The Black Parade, Mikey Way had an emotional breakdown that ultimately had him leave the band temporarily. This almost caused the band to dissolve. Luckily for the band, Mikey attended therapy during his leave and would eventually rejoin the band soon after.

During the July of 2007, a rumor spurred around stating Mikey Way left the band once again. Many fans thought it was for a negative purpose, though the actual reason was because Mikey became married.

Mikey Way also appears in the Lostprophets music video for "Goodbye Tonight".

Personal life
Mikey Way married his spouse Alicia D. Simmons on March 7 of 2007. The two currently reside in a home in Brooklyn, New York, New York.

Mikey Way was diagnosed with bipolar disorder between the release of "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" and the recording of "The Black Parade" in early 2006. Mikey Way admits that the biplolar disorder was caused to taking large amounts of anti-depressant drugs and drinking excessive amounts of "booze". Mikey Way recalled once:
 * "It was like, I'm either gonna leave the band, or I'm gonna leave the planet Earth, or I'm gonna disappear and nobody's gonna hear from me again."

Mikey Way had undergone laser eye surgery before the making of their fourth studio album, "Danger Days: True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys", correcting Mikey's nearsightedness and allowing Mikey to go without the need for his glasses.

Mikey Way's favorite food is sushi. Mikey also has a desire for Starbucks's coffee and lattes.