'The Black Parade' Finally Gives My Chemical Romance Its First No. 1

A deluxe reissue lifted the rock opera from No. 139 to the top of the Billboard 200 on 78,000 equivalent album units.

“The Black Parade” topped out at No. 2 the first time around. Two decades later, a deluxe reissue has lifted My Chemical Romance’s rock opera from No. 139 to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the band’s first chart-topping album ever, Variety reported Sunday.

The reissue earned 78,000 equivalent album units, and Variety says it’s the longest any album has waited to reach the top. The old mark belonged to Toby Keith’s “35 Biggest Hits,” which got there nearly 16 years in, after his death in 2024. No anniversary edition had ever entered the chart at No. 1 before this one, according to Variety.

The chart news landed the day after the band wrapped a five-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl, where it played the whole album front to back. The last two shows, on Oct. 30 and Halloween, opened with “Prelude to the End,” a nine-minute animated short made with artist Lauren Tsai and featuring the voices of Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers, NME reported. The Bowl run closed out the U.S. leg of the band’s “Long Live the Black Parade” anniversary tour.

The record that had to make room: Olivia Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” which slid from No. 1 to No. 2, beaten by a 20-year-old record.

Source: Variety, retrieved November 2, 2026. Other sources: nme.com.