Watch: Jared Leto’s emotional tribute to the Paris victims at the ‪‎AMAs‬

Actor-singer Jared Leto pays tribute to the Paris attack victims at the American Music Awards.

Jared Leto: “Earlier this year my band Thirty Seconds To Mars was wrapping up a tour to Europe and looking for a good excuse to stop off in one of our favourite cities in the world: Paris. We decided to play a little impromptu show at a classic venue called the Bataclan. It was beautiful, peaceful, and unforgettable. What a difference a day makes.

“Seven months later on the evening of November 13, 2015, that same venue, Bataclan, was under siege, one in a series of terrorist attacks on Paris that changed the word forever. 129 innocent people died, 368 were injured, and another seven billion will forever be scarred by this horrific and senseless tragedy. Like some of you here, we had friends and former colleagues there that night. Steve Toth and Matt McJunkins both made it out. Thomas Ayed did not.

Leto shared a message from the story of Antoine Leiris, a father who lost his wife during the Bataclan siege, who posted a message for ISIS, few days after the tragedy.

“Antoine Leiris was also at Bataclan and said: ‘Friday night, you took an exceptional life. The love of my life, the mother of my son. But, you will not have my hatred.’ He went on to say, ‘You’re asking for it, but responding with hatred and anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security — you lost. We are just two now, my son and me. But we are stronger than all the armies in the world.’”

“Tonight we honour the victims of the unimaginable violence that has taken place in this year in Paris and around the world,” he said.

“France matters, Russia matters, Syria matters, Mali matters, the Middle East matters, the United States matters, the entire world matters, and peace is possible.