Mikey Way

Mikey Way was born Michael James Way, on September 10, 1980 in Newark, New Jersey, where he grew up. He is the younger brother of Gerard Way, (with whom he has a very close relationship, and is also Scottish/Italian, like his brother). Mikey is related to Joe Rogan, Host of the NBC game/stunt show Fear Factor and former cast member of the sitcom News Radio (Joe is Mikey's mother's cousin's son). Growing up, Way worked for Barnes & Noble, in addition to being an intern at Eyeball Records (the company that put out My Chemical Romance's debut album, I brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love in 2002). The first concert he ever went to was a Smashing Pumpkins concert.

My Chemical Romance

Mikey is the bassist of the band My Chemical Romance. Prior to My Chemical Romance, Mikey didn’t know how to play bass, and only learned to play in order to be in his brother's band. He dropped out of college for the sole purpose of playing in My Chemical Romance. He plays both A Highway 1 Precision Bass, and a Fender Standard Precision Bass. Mikey was also responsible for the band's name, which came from an Irvine Welsh novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. He and Gerard's grandmother, Elena, happened to buy them their first tour van. Before he joined My Chemical Romance, Mikey auditioned for Pencey Prep (Frank Iero’s band previous to joining MCR), but did not make the cut. During the few first shows My Chemical Romance played, Mikey drank liquor heavily to mask his extreme stage fright. During the writing of The Black Parade, Mikey Way suffered from “near bi-polar disorder” and medicated himself with pills and alcohol. He eventually left the Paramour Mansion, where the band was recording, to get psychological help. Mikey is also known as Kobra Kid for the band's new album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. For the album, his color is yellow and is seen in the video for Na Na Na wearing a red leather jacket, a yellow helmet with the words "good luck" on the shield, and a yellow ray gun.

Interests

His favorite band is Anthrax, and can often be seen wearing his signature Anthrax shirt. Other favorite bands include The Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Iron Maiden, and The Misfits. Mikey is a recovering iPod junkie and an iPod battery hoarder. His favorite food is sushi and claims that he could eat his body weight in it. Schlock horror films are his absolute favorite. He has many pets, including dogs Piglet Tree Way and Puddles Way, and cats named Bunny Marie Way and Snowball Way. Mikey loves unicorns. On the opposite hand, he hates small spaces, large and open spaces, and shopping for groceries.

Personal Life

Mikey married fellow bassist Alicia Simmons on March 8, 2007 before a show at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alicia Simmons-Way is a guitar tech and merch seller among other things. She’s tech’d for various bands including Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boy, and Straylight Run, and has played surrogate bassist for From First to Last. Mikey and Alicia currently live together in New York, and are very happy with one another. Mikey and Alicia have matching tattoos on their wrists. The tattoo(s) consist of a heart shaped jar with flames emitting from it; across the jar reads, "FOREVER".

Injuries

Mikey is nearsighted (scroll down for details). Mikey has been pretty lucky, considering the only injuries he's ever gotten were liver damage, a few broken toes (an epic battle with a brick wall), and multiple respiratory infections, as well as being bassist in the top-charting band, My Chemical Romance.

Glasses

The younger Way's trademark was his glasses, but that all changed in May of 2006. Mikey got Lasik eye surgery that corrected his nearsightedness and made the glasses superfluous. He no longer wears glasses.

As quoted from Mikey's myspace page:

"At the young age of 9 years, Michael James Way was struck with the affliction known as nearsightedness. Unable to see such things as the chalkboard, the movie screen (or anything more than 5 feet away) the lad was forced to get corrective lenses. Michael and his glasses spent many fruitful years together. They saw each other through the good times, as well as the bad. In May of 2006 this friendship came to a crashing halt. Michael's glasses met their end tragically, by way of Lasik eye surgery. The glasses leave behind two loving brothers, Ray Ban, Paul frank, and their father Chanel. Viewing times and dates will be announced shortly."