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 movie 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 game Gears of War. When "Mad World" was originally released, Jules' vocal style was often compared to that of REM's Michael Stipe. Some of his early projects / bands were The Ivory Knights, Our Town Pansies, Woodenfish, Kofi, The Origin, "Invisible", "No poetry," and "Heroes and Heroin." Personal Jules' parents are Gary J. Aguirre (former SEC investigating attorney who, after being fired in September, 2005, on June 28,