Gerard Way: I don’t mind being an outcast

The lead singer of My Chemical Romance said that being called the devil by some people who disliked the band’s style “felt like a victory.”

But the 33-year-old quickly started to become disheartened and annoyed about the backlash towards the group, who have released songs such as The Black Parade.

“Only once or twice,” he said when asked by British magazine NME if he enjoyed the controversy surrounding the band. “When we had religious wackos outside out gigs, protesting saying, ‘You’re the devil.’ To be targeted by those people felt like a victory. But that didn’t last long. Pretty quickly I thought, ‘This is really misunderstood, this is getting out of hand.’”

He also confessed he doesn’t like making money based on a negative image, because he finds it soulless.

The songwriter said he would rather not sell any of his singles than sell them on the basis of sensationalism.

“The records we’re selling (on the strength of) this nonsense – I don’t want to be selling,” the lead singer said.