Gary Jules

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Gary Jules
Birth name Gary Jules Aguirre
Born March 19, 1969 (1969-03-19) (age 40),
Fresno, California, United States
Genres Rock, folk, alternative rock
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica
Website www.garyjules.com

Gary Jules (born March 19, 1969 in Fresno, California as Gary Jules Aguirre) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his cover of Tears for Fears' third single "Mad World", which he recorded together with friend Michael Andrews for the cult film Donnie Darko. It became the UK Christmas Number One single of 2003. Since then it has been used on popular American TV shows, and most recently in the commercial for the Xbox 360 video game Gears of War and a Season 5 episode of the medical drama House.

Some of his early projects / bands were The Ivory Knights, Our Town Pansies, Woodenfish, Kofi, The Origin, Invisible, No poetry and Heroes and Heroin.[citation needed] His 2003 residency at the Los Angeles Hotel Café helped develop the venue as a successful singer/songwriter venue.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] Songs

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Gary Jules recorded a cover of the song "Mad World" (by Tears For Fears) for the film Donnie Darko and later released it as a single in December 2003. It was a huge success becoming the Christmas No. 1 in the UK. It has also become a popular choice for background music in numerous television dramas. In one episode of the television show Without a Trace, the Jules' version of Mad World was played during the last part of the episode and into the credits. The song was also featured in the TV series Smallville, and during the beginning of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Room Service".[2]

American Idol contestant Adam Lambert sang Jules' version of "Mad World" for the top 8 performance, which was highly praised by the judges and viewers, and repeated the song in a different dramatic presentation for the top 2 performance, as well as during the American Idols Live! 2009 tour. Following the performance, Jules' version of "Mad World" shot up to #11 on the iTunes store. Jules has stated he did well until he added a long drawn out note at the end.

His song "Gone Daddy" is based upon his family and himself relocating to North Carolina. When living in L.A. a neighbor was gunned down at night. While the police were investigating the shooting, Gary approached one of the officers and explained that his child was trying to take a nap. Gary asked if the officer knew when they would be finished. The officer told Gary he did not know, but he could always leave L.A. So, Gary did.

His song "Wichita" was inspired by a class Gary took at UCLA regarding Native American history. There was a story about how the Native Americans followed the buffalo around the nation to survive, and when the "white men" finished the intercontinental railroad, the buffalo started to head back south. When they came upon the rail road, the buffalo would not cross it, and millions of them died. Gary has only spent one night in the actual city of Wichita.

Gary has stated that "No Poetry" is possibly his favorite song he has written.[citation needed] His song "Something Else" was featured on the Season 5 episode "My Fallen Idol" of the NBC TV show Scrubs.

Gary also sang on the Esquimaux song "Honey & Dear" from their album Perfecto!.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Billboard, Allmusic
  2. ^ http://www.tv.com/csi/room-service/episode/456786/summary.html

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Jules"