Meeting fans makes impact on 30 Seconds to Mars singer

30 Seconds To Mars singer Jared Leto affectionately calls his group's fans a "big, dysfunctional family," and he often tries to meet members of that family as often as possible after concerts. Leto told us what kinds of meetings with fans make the most impact on him: "Probably the most impactful things are stories of overcoming challenges or... there was a girl that was ten, eleven years old and she had a degenerative muscle disease that was slowly tearing her body apart. It was very sad. She was wonderful, met her whole family."

30 Seconds To Mars recently completed its first headlining tour in support of the band's second album, A Beautiful Lie.

The group will play the inaugural Bamboozle Left punk and emo festival on October 14th and 15th in Pomona, California. Dashboard Confessional, Plus 44, Thrice, and 40 other groups will also appear on the bill.

Leto filmed a new movie called Chapter 27 earlier this year, in which he plays John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman. Leto gained 62 pounds for the film, which will tentatively come out this fall.