Artist of the Week: Jared Leto

by: Carlos Figueroa

Jared Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Fight Club, Girl, Interrupted, Panic Room, American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, and Chapter 27, but really, that's not the reason he's the artist of the week! He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main-songwriter for the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Well, before I start talking about Jared, I guess I'll explain why I decided making this Artist of the Week Section. First of All, 30 Seconds to Mars's latest album, This is War, has been my most listened album in the week, especially because of the song "Kings and Queens". The second reason is because I (and David) would like to have a little bit of feedback from the readers (and of course our followers). Our proposal is nominating an artist of the week every week (that sounds a little redundant) and then, at the end of the month, have our readers vote for the artist of the month.

Now, back on Jared, I will start with a little bit of his biography. Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana. During his childhood, Leto and his family—his mother, Constance, and his older brother Shannon Leto—moved frequently, living in Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, and even Haiti.

After dropping out briefly in the 10th grade, Jared decided to return and focus on his education at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia. He graduated from the prep school Emerson Preparatory School, in Washington, DC in 1989. When he finished school, Leto enrolled at Philadelphia's University of the Arts to pursue his interests in painting. However, he then transferred to the private-held, School of Visual Arts in New York City after developing an interest in acting.

Now, I will not get into Jared's acting career (which I consider magnificent by the way) because in the FGI Nation we want to focus on music, so, I will skip directly into his career as a member of 30 Seconds to Mars.

Jared Leto is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and sole songwriter of the band 30 Seconds to Mars. He started the band in 1998 with his brother, Shannon Leto, who is the band's drummer. The band has released three full-length albums: the eponymous debut 30 Seconds to Mars, 2005's A Beautiful Lie and 2009's This Is War. They began opening for other bands and started their first headlining tour, Forever Night Never Day, in March 2006. In May 2007, the band started touring Europe.

In August 2008, Virgin Records filed a $30 million lawsuit against Jared and 30 Seconds to Mars, claiming the band refused to deliver three albums as required by its contract. According to the lawsuit, the band "repudiated" a 1999 contract in July. In late April 2009 the lawsuit with EMI was annulled and 30 Seconds To Mars decided to re-sign with Virgin Records. Their third album This Is War was released on December 8, 2009, while the first single, "Kings and Queens" premiered Tuesday, October 6, 2009. "This is War" is the second single of the album.

Leto directed the videos for the songs "The Kill", "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens" under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins, and "A Beautiful Lie" under the alias of Angakok Panipaq.

For most shows, Leto uses either one of two custom-made Steve McSwain guitars, a white one called "Pythagoras" or a black one called "Artemis". The guitars: one a baritone and the other with a 25 1/2" scale length, have the image of a gryphon which he drew for McSwain. Occasionally he plays a white Gibson SG 61' Reissue as seen in the video for "A Beautiful Lie". Jared also plays a Gibson Maestro acoustic guitar for acoustic performances. Jared uses Mesa/Boogie amps, more specifically the Triple Rectifier model and matches them with Mesa/Boogie speaker cabinets as well.