On Saturday, during the final night of My Chemical Romance‘s headline shows at the Wembley Stadium, London, lead singer Gerard Way took the time to dedicate a song to John Blanche, a leading artist responsible for the style and success of Warhammer. Way dedicated ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’ to Blanche, who died at the start of June.
At the mention of Blanche’s name, cheers went up around the arena – confirming an unsurprising overlap in the fandoms between Warhammer and MCR. Way called Blanche “an amazing painter, miniature painter, artist all across the board” who “was responsible for so much of Games Workshop, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k”.
Way added that “Towards the end, you know in the last couple of years people really started to fucking recognise this guy and it was amazing”, adding that he dedicated “this really, really, horrific, nasty, spooky song to go out to John Blanche” – ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’, from MCR’s debut album.
Blanche worked with Games Workshop as a freelance illustrator from 1977, before becoming full time art director in 1986. He was a key figure in defining the look and feel of the Warhammer world and had a hand in all of the recognizable Warhammer 40k factions, from Space Marines to Tyranids. He retired from Games Workshop in 2023, but was active as an artist and in the wargames community until his death – our obituary of Blanche has more details of his life, achievements, and influence.
MCR is currently on the European leg of its ‘Long Live the Black Parade 2026’ tour, though it’s set to return to the USA in August. The show is split into two sets – a complete performance of The Black Parade, followed by cuts from the band’s whole discography.
It’s not altogether surprising that Way held Blanche in high regard. Not only are the gothic sensibilities of Blanche’s art style eminently relatable to MCR’s music, but before co-founding MCR, Way was on track for a career as an illustrator and comics writer, something he never entirely left behind.
Were you there in Wembley, or are you going to see MCR perform somewhere else? Come and join the Wargamer Discord community and make everyone jealous!
Source: Wargamer
