Known primarily as an acoustic singersongwriter, he set aside his Martin guitar, picked up a Fender Stratocaster and began collaborating with certified blues legends like B.B. With his credibility at stake, Mayer carved a new musical path, reinventing himself as a guitar hero in the mold of Eric Clapton and boyhood idol Vaughan. In 2005, however, the human hit machine took a radical left turn. Additionally, his regular appearances on TMZ and clever use of new media made it appear that Mayer was more intent on becoming a celebrity than a serious player. Since then, Mayer has won several Grammys, recorded three more studio albums, including 2009’s Battle Studies, and composed a catchy string of soulful hit singles such as “Gravity,” “Waiting on the World to Change” and the current smash “Who Says?” His combination of flawless melodies, clever lyrics and thoughtful arrangements made him a natural heir to musicians like Stevie Wonder, Sting and Paul Simon, who have turned pop into art.īut somewhere along the line, the guitarist started becoming more famous for who he was with offstage than on. It gets you on an airplane with $1,000 in your pocket and makes you believe that you’re going to get work when you land.” Though he’s 32, Mayer, with his tousled hair and soft features, still looks like a college student. “I was really confident from the beginning,” he says. After a short, two-semester stay at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Meyer hopped a plane to Atlanta, Georgia, and at the age of 19 began playing coffeehouses and developing songs for his first album, the 2001 multi-Platinum blockbuster Room for Squares. He spent the next several years practicing and playing in local clubs, until he graduated high school. Born in 1977, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayer began playing the guitar at age 13 and quickly fell under the spell of Texas blues colossus Stevie Ray Vaughan.

John mayer continuum zip file