Bob Bryar, the former drummer for My Chemical Romance, has died aged 44.
He was found dead in his home in Tennessee on Tuesday (November 26) after last being seen alive on November 4, per TMZ.
The cause of death is not immediately known, but authorities have ruled out foul play, with his possessions, including musical equipment and weapons, untouched.
Bryar was My Chemical Romance’s longest-tenured drummer, performing with the band from 2004 until his departure in 2010.
Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1979, he began playing drums at a young age in his school’s marching bands. Following his graduation from high school he studied sound engineering at the University of Florida.
He initially began working as a sound engineer for The Used and Thrice. He struck up a friendship with My Chemical Romance during their tour with the former in 2004, and soon after became their drummer for their tour that year in Japan – replacing previous drummer Matt Pelissier.
Though his involvement with the band came after the release of their second album ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’, he appeared in all the music videos and promotional material for it.
His contributions can be heard on My Chemical Romance’s seminal 2006 album ‘The Black Parade’, the band’s most commercially and critically successful record. It debuted at number two in the United States on the Billboard 200, as well as on the UK Albums Chart.
Upon its release, NME likened the album to Green Day‘s ‘American Idiot’, writing that “it’s a piece of work that will challenge every preconception you ever had about the people who made it.” It was also featured as number 10 in NME‘s 50 Best Albums of 2006.
Bryar was involved in the writing process for the band’s follow-up record, 2010’s ‘Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys‘, but left the band shortly before the album’s release.
In a statement at the time, guitarist Frank Iero wrote on the band’s blog: “As of four weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours, and expect you all to do the same.”
In the subsequent years, Bryar continued to play drums, before announcing his retirement from music in 2014 to become a real estate agent.
He was an active supporter of various dog rescue charities. In 2022 he announced he would be selling his original ‘Black Parade’ uniform and using money from the sale to help “abandoned and sheltered animals in areas of Florida and South Carolina that are affected by Hurricane Ian”.
Prior to that, he sold a drum kit – used during some of My Chemical Romance’s most formative moments – to raise funds for the Williamson County Animal Control and Adoption Center in Tennessee.
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