“I don’t need the stage as much as I need the time at home”: My Chemical Romance guitarist hints at retirement from “excessive” touring
When My Chemical Romance called it quits in 2013, Frank Iero quickly started his own solo project in 2014 to continue performing. Currently spinning plates, performing in both post-hardcore supergroup L.S. Dunes and a reformed MCR, he’ll find any excuse to go on tour – but he knows his days are numbered.
Speaking on Kerrang!’s In Conversation podcast, Iero revealed that he’s considering dialling back on his “excessive” touring. “If I’m being quite honest, I feel, like at this age, with touring, I’m probably at my end,” he admits. “It’s coming up soon.”
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Iero acknowledges the physical toll of touring, noting that nowadays he prefers the comfort of a studio over cramped tour buses. “I think, the older I get, the more I enjoy the record-making process,” he explains. “If it were up to me, I think I would probably do that more often than the touring.”
It’s a confession that feels at odds with Iero’s touring history. Alongside his constantly shape-shifting solo project (of which he has released three studio records, all under different monikers), he’s constantly on the road. At times, it’s as if he starts another project just for an excuse to trek across Europe.
Even before My Chemical Romance’s initial split, Iero had a project on the side to keep performing. His hardcore punk side-project Leathermouth toured and released XO in 2009, all-the-while he was working on My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days, which would release in 2010. Even when fronting his own solo project, he still had a project side, with experimental duo Death Spells touring and releasing a record in 2016.
Of course, he does it because he loves it. No sane person would perform at a festival twice, like Iero did in 2024 for When We Were Young, hopping onstage with L.S. Dunes before donning his emo gear for My Chemical Romance’s triumphant headline set.
Ultimately, it all comes down to wanting to family. “I feel like, with my kids coming to a certain age – my daughters are 14 now and my son’s gonna be 13 in a little over a month – I can see that end in sight,” he says. “[Soon they’ll] go off to college and stuff like that. And I think that I’m at the point where I don’t I don’t need the stage as much as I need the time at home.”
All things considered, it’s hard to truly believe Iero will commit to this plan. And he even admits it himself;.“I floated that [idea] in front of people that know me quite well, and they were like, ‘Fuck, yeah, right…’” he laughs.
My Chemical Romance are set to embark on a North American stadium tour this Summer. The tour kicks off in July, and tickets are on sale now. L.S. Dunes have also just released their sophomore record, Violet, and are currently touring across Europe.
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