Twenty years after its release, The Black Parade gives My Chemical Romance the first number one of their career on the Billboard 200, the American albums chart. Buoyed by its anniversary reissue, the record totals 78,000 album equivalent units, all editions combined, and is ahead of Olivia Rodrigo. A success which comes a few days after a first coronation in the United Kingdom.
The Black Parade has not finished its march: the album of My Chemical Romance has just climbed to the top of the Billboard 200. Thanks to its anniversary reissue, The Black Parade (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)the 2006 record took first place on the American chart. It is the rock group’s first number one album in almost twenty-five years of existence.
According to Billboardthe album totaled 78,000 album equivalent units in the United States, all editions combined, notably thanks to more than twenty formats and physical variants.
With The Black Paradeits third album released in 2006, the emo group broadened its range and created a true rock opera in the tradition of Queen. The record notably gave birth to the hit “Welcome to the Black Parade”, which entered the American Top 10. Upon its release, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Over two decades, The Black Parade has established itself as one of the major rock records of the 21st century.
My Chemical Romance celebrated the album’s twenty years with an expanded reissue, The Black Parade (20th Anniversary Edition)published on October 23. Physical sales largely contributed to propelling the record to the top of the charts. Friday October 30, the group had already achieved their first number one in the official albums chart in the United Kingdom.
The twenty-year-old record even managed to get ahead of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love ofOlivia Rodrigo on the Billboard 200. On Wednesday, October 28, while mid-week forecasts gave My Chem the winner with a thousand sales in advance, the pop star encouraged the group by sharing an excerpt from their concert at Citi Field in New York, which she had attended earlier in the year.
“@mychemicalromance”she simply wrote in the caption of her Instagram story, accompanied by a multitude of pink hearts. That evening, the singer-songwriter also met the members of the group and posed with them backstage.
This triumph comes as My Chemical Romance continues to celebrate The Black Parade with Long Live the Black Paradea long-term tour launched in 2025. Despite some legal disputes with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, this tour marks a peak in the group’s career. In August 2025, the musicians performed at MetLife Stadium in their native New Jersey before conquering Wembley Stadium in London for three sold-out concerts in July 2026.
This coronation definitively establishes The Black Parade among the timeless albums, confirms the status of My Chemical Romance as one of the emblematic groups of rock and reinforces a return that nothing seems to be able to stop.
By Maya Georgi
