John Mayer Wants to Remind You He's "Not a Dick" Anymore

The musician is trying to move on from his old reputation.

By Samantha Schnurr Nov 08, 2018 6:36 PMTags
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John Mayer is moving on and getting over his old reputation and he hopes you do, too. 

It wasn't many years ago that the Grammy-winner was just as famous for his soft jams as he was for his high-profile romances and controversial comments. Known to overshare about his former flames, he had a penchant for making headlines—and not the kind any ex wants to read in the grocery check-out line. 

On his unofficial Instagram live show, Current Mood, last month, the star said he gets rejected a lot because he thinks he became "PR poison" for many people. "I don't think that people are into the idea of like, 'I snagged John Mayer,'" he acknowledged.

But, in a new interview with Billboard, the musician explained why he wants people to let the version of him go. 

"Some people still say, 'That guy's a dick,'" he said. "And I go, 'Well, any of that data you're working off of is really old.' I mean, I can tell you for sure that I haven't been a dick in many years. That's a really outdated take."

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John Mayer's Surprising Dating History

During the interview, the star also addressed how having limits changed the way he was behaving. 

"I probably had a run in my life where I wasn't aware that there was anything I couldn't have. And it made a monster out of me," he told the magazine. "And there's something very freeing about you can't. And that's about the right age in your life where you go, ‘Yeah, you can't.'"

While he's no longer at the forefront of the tabloids, seven albums, a handful of tours and continuous singles later, Mayer remains committed to what first made him famous: being a singer-songwriter.  

"The same thing that I may have [once] found a little underwhelming about not being culturally super hot is the same thing that has given me a little more traction in something just a little beneath that. You might not be the It Guy, but the It Guy has got a better chance of being picked off," he told Billboard

As he noted, "I would love to make music for the club...I make music for the omelette on the Sunday after the club, and I've got to be OK with that, and I am OK with that."