Tune Talk: Top 5 Emo Role Models

Willie Williams, Staff Writer

First thing I want to say if anyone is confused, by role models, I mean fans that’re so obsessed with the musician they tried to look or become like them. And these are the guys/gals that did it for big fans of emo music as well as myself as I’ve gotten further and further into emo music. I’d just like to point out that only the first two are the ones that I’ll admit I tried to turn into. I had to throw the other people on this list on here simply because it’s true with how people who go trick or treating or are just changing their style in general are trying to look like this emo icons.

5. Brendon Urie (Panic! At the Disco)
When aren’t the fan girls screaming their heads off whenever Brendon Urie either walks on a stage, does live streams, or even just simply googles his forehead. In all honesty, I feel like more guys are trying to look like Brendon Urie mostly because they think he gets all the ladies, which I guess he technically does with a boat load of screaming fan girls. But the way he’s been doing his hairstyle since the “Vices and Virtues” era wasn’t really popular until he started doing that in 2011. Just saying.

4. Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance)
I personally don’t understand the obsession with Frank Iero, the lead guitarist from My Chemical Romance, but after he grew his hair out to be longer in 2010, all the fan girls of My Chemical Romance had a spaz attack. In all honesty, what does Frank do besides co-write some of the songs for the band? He doesn’t play lead guitar, he plays rhythm. Ray Toro plays leads. Frank does very little backup vocals, Ray does about 90% of them. I’m still trying to do some personal research on what the obsession is but I know that a bunch of girls have and still are trying to look like him for Halloween. Like they’re dressing up in his “Danger Days” suit he wore for the “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na)” music video.

3. Hayley Williams (Paramore)
There are really only two main reasons why any girl wanted or still wants to be Hayley Williams. The fact that she can sing really amazingly, and how many times she’s dyed her hair. Why does it matter that she dyed her hair so many times you ask? Well it makes her look cool, makes her look like she wants to be her own person. It makes her look like she doesn’t care what others think of her, and she doesn’t. And that makes her look rebellious and really cool to teenagers.

2. Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)
Whether or not you’ve gotten through your emo phase completely yet, you have to admit that if you like or loved My Chemical Romance, you desperately wanted to either marry or look like Gerard Way. The only reason I really want to dye my hair red is because Gerard Way looked cool with it. Gerard is another one who did so many wild things, including dying his hair, and it made look like he didn’t care what other people think, in which he didn’t. That’s what makes him such an emo icon and everybody who is really into emo music really looks up to the guy to this day. Including me.

1. Ryan Ross (Panic! At the Disco, The Young Veins)
I can’t tell you, how obsessed I was and still am with Ryan Ross. I’m not talking about Ryan Ross from the “Pretty. Odd.” Era either, I’m talking 2006 emo Ryan Ross. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, who has EVER considered themselves a Panic! At the Disco fan who listened to the “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” album admires Ryan Ross as much as I do. The guy wrote ALL of the lyrics to the “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” album as well as all but two songs on the “Pretty. Odd.” Album. Lots of girls have been seen putting on eye liner and face paint makeup just like he did back in 2006 whenever Panic! At the Disco played live shows. His vocals back in 2006 were amazing and so incredibly emo that it just stopped everyone’s hearts who watched. Heck, my friend JUST started watching Panic! At the Disco’s live performance from 2006 whenever they played Live in Denver and he’s now saying that he desperately wants Ryan back in the band. As do I. Ryan just looked so cool and he was pretty much his own character in emo history. His backup vocals I just can’t get over from that performance, combined with Brendon Urie’s, it was just so amazing.