Jared Leto is a successful Hollywood actor and also a founder member singer songwriter and rhythm guitarist of progressive metal band 30 Seconds to Mars.
The line up of the band includes, his brother and fellow founding band member Shannon Leto on drums , Tomo Mili?evi? on lead guitar and keyboards and Tim Kelleher on bass , the latter replacing earlier bassist Matt Wachter.
Jared Joseph Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana in 1971. His family moved around when he was young and the family lived in Colorado, Wyoming, Virginia and even Haiti for brief periods.
Jared Leto eventually finished school in Washington DC in 1989 and studied at the New York City’s School of Visual Arts after becoming interested in being an actor.
Around this time, he learned the guitar and was influenced by the Police and John Lennon .He left New York for Los Angeles in 1992, hoping to further his career in either acting or music.
Jared Leto was offered some part time acting roles and appeared in a successful American TV series “My so-called life” which ran until 1995 and this helped him land more major film roles. He has appeared opposite Colin Farrell in Oliver Stone’s Alexander, alongside Nicholas Cage in Lord of War as well as appearances in major films including Fight Club and Panic Room.
Although Jared Leto is succesful as a top Hollywood actor, his music is equally important to him.
He founded the band 30 Seconds To Mars in 1998 along with his brother Shannon Leto, the band’s drummer. The band released a self-titled debut album in 2002 a concept album that has been compared to Pink Floyd and Brian Eno.
The next album released in 2005 “A Beautiful Lie” was recorded over three years to fit in with Jared Leto’s acting commitments and has been very successful selling more than 1.2 million copies in the US.
30 Seconds To Mars gained some success supporting other bands, headlined their own tour in March 2006 and went on to tour Europe in 2007. However their record label Virgin, filed a $30 million lawsuit against the band accusing them as breaching their contract by failing to deliver three completed albums. However, the lawsuit was annulled and surprisingly the band decided to resign to Virgin.
Their most recent studio album is “This is War” released in 2009 which has charted around the world reaching a peak position of number 2 in the US billboard chart.
Jared Leto plays a custom-made Steve McSwain guitar – he owns two, and plays a Gibson SG 61 reissue. He is the creative force behind the band and writes most of the material. Jared Leto also directs the band’s music videos under the name Bartholomew Cubbins.