By Sabrina Mason
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
John Clayton Mayer (/ˈmeɪ.ər/ MAY-ər; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-lived rock duo, Lo-Fi Masters. After their split, Mayer continued to play at local clubs, refining his skills and gaining a minor following. He performed at the 2000 South by Southwest festival, and was subsequently signed by Aware Records, an imprint of Columbia Records through which he released his debut extended play (EP), Inside Wants Out (1999). His first two studio albums—Room for Squares (2001) and Heavier Things (2003)—were both met with critical and commercial success; the former spawned the single “Your Body Is a Wonderland“, which won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, while the latter peaked atop the Billboard 200.
By 2005, Mayer had moved away from the acoustic music that characterized his early records, and further delved into the blues and rock music which had originally influenced him. Forming the John Mayer Trio, he released the live album, Try! (2005) and his third studio album, Continuum (2006). Both were met with positive critical reception, while the latter was nominated for Album of the Year, and won both Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for its single, “Waiting on the World to Change” at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. It was followed by Battle Studies (2009), which marked his return to pop.
After having several controversial incidents with the media, Mayer withdrew from public life in 2010 and drew inspiration from the 1970s pop music of Laurel Canyon for the sound of his fifth studio album, Born and Raised (2012). Discovery of a granuloma on his vocal cords delayed the release of the album until May 2012, and forced him to cancel its accompanying tour. Despite favorable reception and becoming his second release to peak atop the Billboard 200, the album was less commercially successful than his previous work. Mayer recovered in January 2013 and released his sixth studio album, Paradise Valley in August of that year, which peaked at number two on the chart and incorporated country, folk, and Americana influences. His seventh album, The Search for Everything (2017) was a loose concept based around themes of a romantic break-up. His eighth, Sob Rock (2021) was inspired by 1980s soft rock music.
In 2015, three former members of the Grateful Dead joined with Mayer and two other musicians to form the band Dead & Company. It was the latest of several reunions of the band’s surviving members since Jerry Garcia‘s death in 1995. Mayer’s secondary career pursuits extend to television hosting, comedy, and writing; he has authored columns for magazines such as Esquire. He supports various causes and has performed at charity benefits. He is a watch aficionado (with a collection he values in the “tens of millions” of dollars), contributing to the watch site Hodinkee, has been on the jury at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, and was appointed as the Creative Conduit of Audemars Piguet in 2024. By 2014, he had sold a total of over 20 million albums.
Mayer has been romantically involved with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Simpson, Minka Kelly, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Noah Webster, America’s first lexicographer, was born on October 16, 1758. We remember Webster as the author of the first American dictionary, but he was also the first authority to advocate American English. His American Spelling Book, published in 1783 (later known as Webster’s Elementary Spelling Book), was the first to Americanize the spelling of English words such as colour and labour by dropping the u. He also espoused American pronunciation and usage. In a very real sense, Webster gave us the language that Americans think of as English. An estimated 60 million copies of Webster’s speller were sold during its first hundred years in print. In 1828, Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language was published, with 12,000 more words and about 40,000 more definitions than any previous English dictionary.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Noah Webster (writer) –
- Francis Lubbock (Texas governor) –
- Oscar Wilde (author) –
- Wallace Rupert Turnbull (Canadian aeronautical engineer) –
- Eugene O’Neill (playwright) –
- Angela Lansbury (actress) –
- Suzanne Somers (actress) –
- Tim Robbins (actor & director) –
- Kellie Martin (actress) –
- John Mayer (musician) –
- Naomi Osaka (tennis player) –
Died
- Marie Antoinette (Queen of France) –
- Gene Krupa (musician) –
- Deborah Kerr (actress) –
- Barbara Billingsley (actress) –
- Dan Wheldon (race car driver) –
- Ed Lauter (actor) –
Events
- Cape Breton Island was re-annexed to Nova Scotia–
- The Tremont House in Boston, considered by many to be the first modern first-class hotel in the US, opens–
- The first successful demonstration of ether took place at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts–
- John Brown, U.S. abolitionist, led an unsuccessful raid on government arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, in what is now West Virginia–
- Cardiff giant discovered in Cardiff, New York (near Syracuse)–
- First Quebec vs. Ontario football game–
- The copyright for the melody “Happy Birthday to You” was registered–
- Margaret Sanger and others open the first birth control clinic, in Brooklyn, NY–
- Sun-Times published first Ann Landers column by Eppie Lederer–
- Two American black athletes at Olympic Games, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, demonstrate for black power while receiving their medals. They are suspended by the Olympic Committee.–
- Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize–
- The Roman Catholic College of Cardinals elected first non-Italian pope in 455 years, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland, who took the name John Paul II–
- 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake, Mojave Desert, California–
- A magnitude-4.0 earthquake struck about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine and was felt throughout New England–
Weather
- 88 degrees F in New York City–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
