Gerard Way: Touring With Linkin Park ‘Changed My Life’

Gerard Way reflected on the late Chester Bennington in a recent interview, saying that Linkin Park “changed [his] life” by bringing his former band, My Chemical Romance, on the touring Projekt Revolution festival. “I met my wife [Mindless Self Indulgence bassist Lyn-Z on the tour],” Way told Nerdist. “We have an amazing life now and a daughter. My memories of that period and meeting Linds again are tied into Chester and his band.”

“He was actually at my wedding,” the singer continued. “Not a lot of people were there because we got married super quickly at the end of the tour when half the people had gone home. So there were literally only 30 or 40 people there, and he was one of them.”

Linkin Park created Projekt Revolution in 2002, recruiting major acts from alternative metal, hip-hop and alternative rock for the traveling fest. My Chemical Romance joined for the 2007 trek, and Way married Lyn-Z backstage during the final show.

Bennington beamed with pride about his accidental matchmaking role during a 2008 Rolling Stone interview alongside friend Chris Cornell, saying, “I felt really proud that … Gerard and [Lyn-Z] reignited their friendship and then ended up getting married backstage on the last show. I was like, ‘This is freaking awesome.'”

Way, who has ventured into comic book writing in recent years, told Nerdist he was “devastated to hear” about Bennington’s suicide last week, adding that he aims to tackle the subject of mental health in DC Comics’ Doom Patrol series.

“It’s so sad,” he said. “I think a lot about mental health, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to address in Doom Patrol, so I definitely think we’ll see a lot more of that now. I’ve been through depression, dark times, and therapy. I can really apply that stuff to these characters.”