My Chemical Romance are selling a fabric face mask to raise funds for coronavirus relief.
The masks, dubbed “My Chemical Romance Desert Screening Device Face Masks”, are now available on the band’s official store for $14.99. Funds from the masks will go to the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund.
The product description explains that the masks were the brainchild of their manager Lauren Valencia, who died of cancer last year.
It continues, “We had these masks made to keep you dust-free in the desert, a show that never happened, never will, a protection that then seemed timeworn.”
This seems to hint that the masks were intended to mark My Chemical Romance’s rumoured inclusion on the Coachella 2020 lineup. Ultimately, the band were absent from the final 2020 lineup.
The webstore also notes that the My Chemical Romance masks are fabric face masks, “not N95 nor anti-microbial”. It asks buyers to “use them responsibly” and follow guidelines from the CDC on proper usage of fabric masks.
On Instagram, guitarist Frank Iero said, “We hope they [masks] can provide a fraction of the good LV shared with the world.”
This initiative follows several announcements from My Chemical Romance as they undertake various efforts to stay in touch with fans as they self-isolate.
Iero has been offering guitar tutorials of some of the band’s biggest hits for fans stuck at home, while frontman Gerard Way recently released a collection of previously unreleased solo songs he dubbed ‘Distraction Or Despair’.
Due to the coronavirus, My Chemical Romance postponed their March tour dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
There is no word as to whether the band’s reunion tour dates for the UK and Europe, slated to run from June to July, will similarly be pushed back. My Chemical Romance are also scheduled to tour the United States in September and October.
