Joe Rogan is a leading figure in podcasting, comedy, and combat sports commentary, hosting The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), the world’s most popular podcast with long, unfiltered conversations across a wide range of guests.
He’s also a longtime UFC color commentator, a former stand-up comedian, actor (known for NewsRadio and Fear Factor), and even a former Taekwondo champion who won the US Open at age 19.
His life has taken him from martial arts to mainstream fame, and his podcast has changed how people consume media with its raw, hours-long format.
But here’s a fun fact that surprises a lot of people, Joe Rogan has famous cousins in the music world. His cousins are Gerard Way and Mikey Way, the lead vocalist and bassist of the iconic rock band My Chemical Romance.
The connection came up in a 2019 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience (#1372) with guest Kevin Smith, the filmmaker behind Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob. Kevin brought it up casually, saying he had a question from someone else.
He asked Joe about his grandmother, named Josie, and whether she linked him to Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance. Joe confirmed it right away: “Yes, yes — we’re related.”
Kevin explained that Gerard had told him,
“I don’t have a hundred percent confirmation on this, but I’m pretty sure Joe Rogan is my cousin. My aunt Josie was his grandmother.
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Joe laughed and said,
“I don’t know him, but we’re cousins.”
Kevin was amazed and asked,
“How crazy is that? Two people in the same family became super famous and don’t even know each other?”
Joe agreed, noting they had never met despite the family link.
The conversation then shifted, with Joe talking about how martial arts gave him focus and confidence during tough times in his life.
The family tie comes through Joe’s grandmother, Josie, who was Gerard’s aunt (or great-aunt in some accounts). This makes Joe and Gerard first cousins once removed, though many sources casually call them cousins or even second cousins.
Since Gerard and Mikey are brothers, Mikey is also related to Joe in the same way. Fans often joke that half of My Chemical Romance shares DNA with the podcast king.
Gerard Way, born in 1977, grew up in New Jersey with his younger brother Mikey. He started as an aspiring animator, graduating from the School of Visual Arts and even interning at Cartoon Network.
But after witnessing the September 11 attacks, he felt driven to create something more meaningful. He formed My Chemical Romance in 2001, and the band became a huge part of the emo and alternative rock scene in the 2000s.
Their album The Black Parade went multi-platinum, with hits like “Welcome to the Black Parade,” “Helena,” and “Teenagers.” Gerard has also made a name in comics, creating the Eisner Award-winning series The Umbrella Academy, which became a hit Netflix show.
After the band’s 2013 breakup, he released a solo album called Hesitant Alien in 2014 and started DC Comics’ Young Animal imprint. The band reunited in 2019 and has been touring ever since.
Mikey Way learned bass just to join his brother’s band and even suggested the name My Chemical Romance after seeing it in a book at work.
He’s been a key part of the group’s success. During the hiatus, he formed the duo Electric Century and wrote comics like Collapser for DC. Like Gerard, he’s stayed active in music and creative work.
Despite the shared bloodline and massive fame in their fields, Joe Rogan and the Way brothers have never met or built a close relationship.
It’s one of those wild Hollywood-adjacent stories that shows how small the world can be, even among superstars. Joe keeps dominating podcasts and UFC broadcasts, while My Chemical Romance influences generations of rock fans. Who knows? Maybe one day they’ll cross paths on a podcast or at a show.
It’s a reminder that fame doesn’t always mean family ties turn into friendships, but the connection is real and pretty cool.
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