My Chemical Romance rocked Chicago’s Soldier Field on Friday night (8/29) as part of their Long Live the Black Parade Tour, and made sure to bring out a Windy City legend.
At the end of the show MCR brought out their rock n; roll, daddy, Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, in a mutual admiration sign of respect that wowed the fans at the century-old lakefront stadium.
Corgan and MCR tore into “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” which both Way brothers say was a defining song for them during their youth.
In 1997, Gerard Way was 20 and his brother Mikey was 17. They went to the Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Tour and left inspired.
“We saw that and were like, ‘We would love to do this, it would be real fucking amazing,’" Gerard told the 60,000 at Soldier Field.
Before performing "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" with Corgan, Gerard said the song was “like searing an imprint on the universe in pure fucking defiance.”
When Corgan got to the mic, after all the accolades and screams from the crowd, he simply said, "the world is a vampire..." and the let one of the biggest '90s anthems do the talking.
Don't be fooled by Corgan's stoic facade as he rocked out with the young fellas in the stadium that was once home to Walter Payton, the Super Bowl Shuffle Bears, and countless rock shows from the Grateful Dead to Taylor Swift.
Since the Black Parade came out in 2006, the head Pumpkin has been playfully calling the Garden State emo stars his "sons."
And yet over the near two decades of pleasantries, for some reason the on-stage collab had never come to fruition until Friday.
This doesn't mean MCR hasn't been showing love to the Pumpkins on this tour. Far from it. In July they covered "Bullet..." for the first time in San Francisco, then they did it two more times before their big moment with Corgan.
After they performed it in Oracle Park, Billy got on the SP IG and gave his seal of approval.
"For any MCR fans who may have come here from the cover of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," he wrote, "yes Billy is equally proud of his sons."
It would be curious to see if Billy felt bittersweet, or daresay melancholy, for having this first appearance at the iconic Chicago stadium be as a guest instead of the headliner.
Despite all their success The Pumpkins were never really a football stadium type of band. The largest venue they headlined in their hometown was the United Center, which they've done four times. Surely they could have put together something grand, but Billy seems to prefer the acoustics of classic theaters and halls with character like the Aragon Ballroom.
MCR only have three more North American tour dates left on their dance card. Next week they'll be at Fenway Park, then Tampa, then Atlanta. Next year their World Tour begins. Grab your tickets on their website.
Long Live the Black Parade Tour World Tour 2026
January 22, 2026 — Vive Claro Distrito Cultural — Bogota, Colombia
January 25, 2026 — Estadio Nacional — Lima, Peru
January 28, 2026 — Estadio Bicentenario Municipal de La Florida — Santiago, Chile
January 29, 2026 — Estadio Bicentenario Municipal de La Florida — Santiago, Chile
February 1, 2026 — Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó — Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 5, 2026 — Allianz Parque — São Paulo, Brazil
February 6, 2026 — Allianz Parque — São Paulo, Brazil
February 13, 2026 — Estadio GNP Seguros — Mexico City, Mexico
February 14, 2026 — Estadio GNP Seguros — Mexico City, Mexico
April 18, 2026 — Paradise City Korea — Incheon, Korea, Republic Of
April 22, 2026 — Impact Challenger Hall 1 — Bangkok, Thailand
April 25, 2026 — Philippine Arena — Manila, Philippines
April 28, 2026 — Singapore Indoor Stadium — Singapore, Singapore
April 30, 2026 — Bukit Jalil National Stadium — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 1, 2026 — Bukit Jalil National Stadium — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 3, 2026 — Hammersonic Festival Jakarta — Jakarta, Indonesia
July 10, 2026 — Wembley Stadium — London, UK
July 11, 2026 — Wembley Stadium — London, UK
