LETO'S SHOCK AT MARS' VMA NOMINATIONS

Jared Leto was "blown away" to discover 30 Seconds To Mars had landed four MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) nominations - insisting the moment he learned of their nods will "go down in history".

The band is up for a string of top honours, including Best Rock Video and Video Of The Year, for their song Kings And Queens.

Singer Leto was in New Zealand when he awoke to the good news - and he was in disbelief to find he and his bandmates were vying with top bands including Muse and Paramore for the trophies.

He tells MTV News, "I was in Auckland, and I woke up after a long slumber, looked over to my BlackBerry, and noticed that the red light seemed to be flashing with an added urgency. So I reached over and quickly found out that this was a day that would go down in history for this little band of ours.

"I was completely blown away. It was so unexpected that my first reaction was, 'Holy f**king s**t f**k f**k f**k!' And then someone sent me the list of artists we're nominated with, and we couldn't believe that either. It really is exciting."

The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on 12 September (10).