BIOGRAPHY JOHN MAYER

John Mayer

I choose John Mayer because I like his song and very motivating for younger generation to be like him.

John Clayton Mayer is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Famous for his special skills in guitar and his artistic pursuit for classy pop-rock songs, he has earned major chart success in the US and other countries. Known for both his solo career and his career with the ‘John Mayer Trio’ group, the knowledgeable musician has millions of fans across the globe.

Childhood & Early Life
John Clayton Mayer was born on October 16, 1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Fairfield. His father Richard was a high school principal, and his mother Margaret Mayer was a middle school English teacher. He has two brothers.

For his junior year, he attended the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk.

He first became fascinated with guitar after watching Michael J. Fox's guitar performance in a movie, and he fell in love with blues music after he heard a Stevie Ray Vaughan cassette.

When he was 13, his father rented a guitar for him. He started taking lessons, and got so engrossed in it that his concerned parents took him to a psychiatrist, who declared him healthy. Later he said that his parents' troubled marriage often forced him to "disappear in his own world.”

While he was in high school, he started playing guitar at bars and other venues. He also joined a band called Villanova Junction and played with Tim Procaccini, Rich Wolf, and Joe Beleznay.

When he was 17, he was diagnosed with cardiac dysrhythmia, and was hospitalized. He said that during that period, he realized that he had a songwriter in him too. He also suffered from panic attacks, and is still on anti-anxiety medication.

He wanted to skip college to pursue a career in music, but his parents persuaded him to enroll in the Berklee College of Music in 1997, at the age of 19. However, he left Berklee after two semesters and moved to Atlanta with his college friend Clay Cook. They formed a two-man band, ‘Lo-Fi Masters’, and began performing in local clubs and other places. Soon they parted ways and Mayer started a solo career.

Awards & Achievements

John Mayer has won seven Grammy Awards from 19 nominations. He collected a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his single ‘Your Body Is a Wonderland’ from the album ‘Room for Squares’ in 2003.

The ‘Continuum’ album also earned him a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. He received two Grammy Awards for ‘Daughters’ in the categories Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2005.

Some of the other awards he has received are MTV Video Music Awards, ASCAP Award, American Music Award, and many others.

Personal Life
John Mayer has dated actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, singer Jessica Simpson, singer Taylor Swift, and actress Minka Kelly among other prominent show biz personalities.

In 2002, he formed an NGO, ‘Back to You’ Fund , that fundraises for healthcare, education, arts and talent development.

He supports campaigns creating awareness about climate change and has performed a number of times for charity. He also supports Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Despite resolving to avoid drugs early in his career, he admitted in 2006 that he used marijuana. He was also involved in a serious controversy for making “racist” comments in an interview, for which he later apologized.

He is an avid collector of watches. In March 2014, he sued watch dealer Robert Maron for $656,000 saying that seven of the watches he bought from Maron contained counterfeit parts. However, the next year Mayer released a statement saying that the dealer never sold him any counterfeit watch.