Jared Leto explains why Kurt Cobain gave everyone a “powerful lesson”
Although, on the face of it, there might be many glaring differences between Jared Leto and Kurt Cobain, there is one thing that unites them; they’re both in two popular rock bands. Whilst in contemporary times, Leto is most famous for being one of the more eccentric Hollywood A-listers, for an extended period, he was almost exclusively known for his work in the alternative rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, despite him appearing in films such as Requiem for a Dream and Alexander.
During the 2000s, the band was well-known for being a part of the third wave of emo, lumped in with the likes of My Chemical Romance and The Used because of tracks such as ‘The Kill’ and ‘From Yesterday’. Drawing on a wide range of genres from industrial to pop, the band went increasingly mainstream, and by the release of their fourth album, 2013’s Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, they were placed firmly in the realm of pop.
However, when they were in what is regarded as their creative heyday, the band were one of the most prominent alternative rock bands out there, taking many of their cues from Nirvana and their late frontman, Kurt Cobain. These similarities came in the form of quiet-loud-quiet dynamics, Leto’s screaming and a myriad of dark lyrics, all of which were vital elements of Nirvana’s style that they made the norm in modern rock.
Although the band have mentioned many acts that have influenced them over the years, including Rush, The Cure, The Smashing Pumpkins and even M83, to Jared Leto, no one has been more significant for his musical development than Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. They’re so essential to him that when sitting down with Q backstage at Reading Festival in 2011, Leto opined that Cobain and the band gave everyone the “permission” to create regardless of skill or talent.
He said: “The most obvious answer, to me, would be Nirvana. Because – for a lot of different reasons – number one, they were a great band, a genius songwriter, an unstoppable voice, and three musicians that made a really unique sound together. But I think there was something else that Nirvana gave, and that was – it was a gift really – it was permission for all of us to have the right to pick up an instrument and create, regardless of your skillset or your talent, and that’s a pretty powerful lesson. I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for that insight.”
Leto concluded: “It’s a good question because I don’t think it’s as easy to answer. There was a disruptive quality to Nirvana’s explosion. I don’t think we’ve felt that since. I don’t think we’ve had that disruption in music so much; I don’t know why that is”.
