Former Blink 182 guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge has spoken out about the recent controversy surrounding My Chemical Romance and their suggested links with 'emo' suicides.
DeLonge told Buzznet that he had experienced similar controversy while in his former band. He defended My Chemical Romance, saying there was nothing abnormal about the content of their lyrics.
"The same sort of thing [being blamed for fans' behaviour] happened to me with Blink," he said, "so I can understand what it's like to be a part of something like that.
"We had a victim of the Columbine shootings take his life with our song on repeat. You kinda go through these situations where you blame yourself, but you can't.
"You have no idea who these people are. And My Chemical Romance, they spend a lot of time singing about coming together. There's ingredients of rebellion and angst, but what band doesn't have that when you're young?"
My Chemical Romance fans recently protested about the media's depiction of the band in London.
Emo music was recently criticised by sections of the media after Hannah Bond, a 13 year-old emo fan from Kent, committed suicide.
