John Mayer is getting candid about the role sobriety has played in his love life, saying that he doesn't "really date" anymore.
"Dating is no longer a codified activity for me, it doesn't exist in a kind of … it's not patterned anymore," he said during an appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.
"I don't really date – I don't think that I have to, to be quite honest. I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don't have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage."
Mayer, 45, has not had a drink since Oct. 23, 2016. His decision to ditch alcohol was triggered by a six-day hangover caused by birthday drinking celebrations.
"It was Drake‘s 30th birthday party, and I made quite a fool of myself," he previously revealed to Complex. "It took me weeks to stop doing this [makes pained face] every morning I woke up."
During his appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, Mayer also addressed speculation about who inspired his Grammy Award-winning song "Your Body Is a Wonderland." The singer/songwriter has been linked to several prominent women including Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson, Minka Kelly and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who he was dating at the time the song was released in 2001. Many have said the hit song was about Hewitt but Mayer insisted it was not.
"That was about my first girlfriend," Mayer said. "That was about the feeling, which I think was already sort of nostalgic. I was 21 when I wrote that song and I was nostalgic for being 16."
Mayer explained that the speculation was "one of those things where people just sort of formed that idea."
"It gets reinforced over the years … I had never met a celebrity when I wrote that song," he added.
Regarding his other song material, Mayer admitted he is reluctant to share details of what his lyrics are about.
"I don't like telling anyone that a song is about somebody because most of the time it's not," he said. "And it takes people away from themselves because they're just visualizing who I'm writing about.
"The songs come out, they mean things to people – sometimes people think it's about one person. Sometimes it hurts the song, sometimes the song doesn't do as well because people go, ‘Well, he’s just petty.' and I go ‘It's got nothing to do with that.' But I'd much rather keep the sanctity of these songs intact. … Burn a couple of them cause people think it's about one person and it's not. … The most important thing in my life right now is my songs."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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