The Cester brothers, Nic and Chris, grew up in Dingley Village and attended St Bede's College, Mentone, Melbourne.

[4]: 230–231  According to Nic, Australian power pop band You Am I had the biggest influence on their developing musical tastes:"Hi Fi Way was the most important album of my generation...

[1][6] Bass guitarist Doug Armstrong, who completed the line-up,[1] had met the Cesters while working at their father's spice factory.

[8][9] Talent manager and booking agent Dave Powell was filling-in for the venue's sound engineer,[3] "I realised the singer could actually sing.

[10] Late in 2002 Jet independently issued a four-track debut extended play Dirty Sweet, with distribution by Rubber Records.

[11] An NME writer had obtained a copy of the group's single "Take It or Leave It" from Dirty Sweet and described it as a mixture of the Rolling Stones and AC/DC.

[1][12] Jet entered the Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles with Dave Sardy producing their debut album Get Born (September 2003).

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" appeared on the soundtracks for the video games Madden NFL 2004, Guitar Hero: On Tour, Rock Band, and Strictly Come Dancing; the 2006 animated film Flushed Away; the live-action films Eurotrip and What Happens in Vegas; and as part of two major worldwide advertising campaigns for Vodafone and Apple's iPod and iMac.

Get Born also includes the song "Timothy", dedicated to Muncey's deceased brother – due to its sensitive nature the quartet rarely play the track live.

"Cold Hard Bitch" from Get Born was used, and used during a frenetic scene of two CIA agents sprinting down a Hong Kong street, giving the band further US exposure.

Jet performed "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" live at the ceremony and picked up the award for Best Rock Video,[23] dedicating it to the Cesters' late father.

This caused controversy but was settled when Australian music magazines began publishing articles comparing Jet's albums with those of famous 1960s and 1970s bands.

"[29] US music blogger Ray Suzuki of Pitchfork gave the album 0.0 out of 10 and posted a video of a chimpanzee urinating in its own mouth instead of a written review.

[32] In mid-November Jet returned to Australia and performed at the Make Poverty History Concert at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne.

[36] Jet co-headlined the 2007 Big Day Out festivals in Australia and New Zealand, alongside fellow headliners Tool, Muse, the Killers, and My Chemical Romance.

[40] In June and August, they supported the Rolling Stones on the European leg of their A Bigger Bang World Tour in Lisbon,[41] Madrid and London (O2 Arena).

[42][43] In October 2007 the band returned to Australia to perform at the AFL Grand Final and to finish the rest of their world tour.

[49][50] Appearing with Jet in Sydney were Coldplay, Eskimo Joe, Hoodoo Gurus, Icehouse, Josh Pyke, Little Birdy, the Presets, Wolfmother, You Am I and additional artists.

[55] In December the quartet were the support act for punk rock trio Green Day on the Australian leg of their 21st Century Breakdown World Tour.

"[27] Jet members announced in September 2016 that they would reform in the following year and were due to open five shows for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on the latter's "Summer '17" tour in February 2017.

[65][66] In October 2016 they announced on social media that their first headline show in 6 years was due at Sydney's Taronga Zoo also in February 2017.

[69] Jet had made their official live return at a one-off headlining show at Melbourne's Gasometer Hotel on 31 January 2017.

[72] It also appeared on the Italian artist's album, The Great Electronic Swindle (October 2017), Rifo reflected, "we had different ideas on the mixing and from that, we came up with two versions.

"[71][72] In 2018 the quartet announced their 15th anniversary Australian national tour for Get Born, with dates in Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.

They supported Jimmy Barnes alongside Eskimo Joe in 2019,[74] and played their final show of their reunion at the By The C open-air concert in Coffs Harbour on 26 October 2019.

[77] Wilson performed as a member of the Australian Rock Collective (or ARC), which included Kram, Powderfinger's Darren Middleton and Davey Lane.

"[79] In June 2023 the quartet officially announced their reunion and shared Australian tour dates for that September where they would perform Get Born in its entirety.

[89] In 2007 Jet members joined a public campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which called for an end to Canada's annual seal hunt.

[90] The petition was signed by some 150,000 names, which included fellow Australian musicians John Butler, members of Something for Kate, Red Riders and the Vines.

[91] Nic highlighted Hollow's work to restore sight to people blinded by cataracts in developing countries, which was ongoing 15 years after his death.