Jesse Tobias

Jesse Tobias (born 1 April 1972) is a Texan guitarist of Mexican origin. He first gained notoriety during a brief tenure with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993, although he was replaced by Dave Navarro within a month after joining the band. Before he joined the Chili Peppers, he briefly played with the L.A. based band, Mother Tongue. Afterwards he played for Alanis Morissette.

After having their offer turned down by Dave Navarro in 1992 to become the replacement for John Frusciante, the Red Hot Chili Peppers turned to guitarist, Arik Marshall to finish out their world tour for their hit album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Once the tour ended the band felt that there was no connection in the writing and recording process with Marshall so he was fired. Shortly after, singer Anthony Kiedis spotted Tobias while he was performing with his band, Mother Tongue in a local nightclub. Kiedis felt that Tobias had what the band was looking for and after months of long auditions (in which the band took out an ad in the newspaper), Tobias was on board as the new guitarist for the Chili Peppers. Rolling Stone magazine devoted a full page article to the new guitarist of the Chili Peppers. Jesse and the Peppers began writing for the next record; however, while the band felt Jesse was a great guitarist, the connection just wasn't there between Jesse and the other three, especially bassist Flea. At this time, Dave Navarro suddenly made himself available and the band made the painful decision to fire Jesse although Kiedis said that it would have happened regardless of Navarro becoming available. The band felt bad that they pulled Tobias away from a band he just joined only to fire him a month later.

Tobias would resurface two years later with Alanis Morissette and would be her guitarist on her Jagged Little Pill world tour. While he was on tour with Morissette in 1996, he met Angie Hart, whose band Frente! was Morissette's opening act. The two were married in 1997 and moved to Los Angeles. Tobias continued to work as a session player, touring guitarist and in other non-performing roles in the music industry. The pair formed their own band, Splendid, which released an album in 1999. The album's release was largely received only in Australia; and the band's American exposure was largely due only to their association with Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including on-camera appearances when Splendid performed at The Bronze. Tobias was credited as a producer (with Christophe Beck and Whedon) and with arranging the music (with Beck) for "Once More, with Feeling", the musical episode from Whedon's show's sixth season. Hart and Tobias ended their marriage in divorce in early 2005.

In 2006 Tobias played on Morrissey's album Ringleader of the Tormentors, and he toured with him. Most recently, he has kept busy writing his newest material including the single "All You Need Is Me". In 2009, Tobias played lead guitar on Morrissey's Years of Refusal tour.