Artist Playlists
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John Mayer emerged with a bang in the early ‘00s, with his bouncy blend of infectious, melodic pop and smoky, low-key vocals making him one of the era's biggest young singer/songwriters. But by the time of his third album, Continuum, things started getting groovier and grittier as Mayer incorporated blues and R&B influences and let his guitar skills shine. Whether he's digging into a burning, bluesy solo or crooning a delicate duet with Katy Perry (“Who You Love”), Mayer manages to make every moment feel both intimate and urgent. - Even when John Mayer is rocking out, the precision of his guitar skills and the sensitivity of his songwriting are impossible to miss. So he's still playing to his strengths when he uses a gentler touch, whether that means adding a bit of sweet soul to an acoustic take on Tom Petty's “Free Fallin'” or getting front-porch folkie on the laidback, autumnal title track of 2012's Born and Raised.
- Since the early '00s, the charts have been peppered with singer/songwriters influenced by John Mayer's tender pop-rock. His smooth, relaxed delivery echoes throughout Ed Sheeran's funky, R&B-kissed folk gems and Charlie Puth's endearingly fragile dance pop. Another biggie is James Blunt, whose soul-melting plea “You're Beautiful” is cut from the same cloth as Mayer's most beloved ballads.
- John Mayer's artistry is an amalgam of modern jam pop and classic blues and soul. His croons boast pungent whiffs of Dave Matthews, especially when his hero slips into breathy, acoustic ballad mode (“Crash Into Me”), while his choice fretwork reflects an affinity for Robert Cray's smooth, fluid licks and the bluesy, plaintive cries of Eric Clapton's Strat.
- Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
- When John Mayer debuted at the turn of the century, curveball-throwing songs like the knotty “Neon” and the reflective “St. Patrick’s Day” hinted at his future guitar-god status. But he’s proven himself adept at crossing over into other styles, too: “Love Is a Verb” gently hums under twinkling Western skies, while the haunting Frank Ocean collaboration “Wildfire” is a spare, melancholic ballad.
- “I don't really make records unless I've caught a new mission statement for what the message and the music should be,” John Mayer says about reinventing himself on his eighth studio album Sob Rock. “The reason my records are so different thematically is because I have to wait until I catch a new script idea.” Ahead of his first album since 2017’s The Search for Everything, the veteran singer-songwriter opens up to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about expressing himself creatively as if he were a film director, how his view on love has changed in his forties and his close bond with Shawn Mendes.