When My Chemical Romance was recording its ambitious third studio album The Black Parade, frontman Gerard Way apparently sang The Carpenters songs to warm up his vocals. Now, nearly 10 years after that album was released, Way released his cover of the "Superstar," and it's just as depressing and epic as you could expect.
In a series of tweets, Way revealed that his cover of "Superstar" was recorded on the same day as The Black Parade's "Cancer," and that he used the '70s hit as a warmup exercise. Way also revealed that My Chemical Romance almost included a cover on The Black Parade, but the album was already too long.
This is very unofficial, a little trickier than hitting play. But it'll work.
— sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
This specific recording was from the day I sang 'Cancer' for the album. This track was a warm up, as I used to warm up to The Carpenters — sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
It brings back a lot of memories, and in context of us making the album it's kind of intense, when you think about how hard BP was to make
— sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
And when you think about all the crazy stuff that was about to happen to us when we released the album — sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
There was one point where we toyed around with putting a cover song on the album, because that would have been kind of next level
— sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
But we already had too many tracks. Realistically, BP could have been, and almost was, a double album — sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
It's just one of the saddest songs
— sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
Thanks for all the kind words- I'm just happy you get enjoyment out of it. It was a pleasure to sing. I u Karen Carpenter — sleep lord (@gerardway) February 11, 2016
Like "Cancer," Way's vocals on his "Superstar" cover are dripping with emotion and featuring some of his signature big, bold wails as well as the song's intense whispers. To say this cover is dynamic is a bit of an understatement.
