Posts Tagged ‘John Mayer’

After more than two years without any live performances, singer John Mayer performed at his first concert in Montana last week as a fundraiser to benefit firefighters that helped save his home and others from a Montana wildfire.

Mayer, who was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and raised in Fairfield, attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, returned to Beantown in 2011 to have granulomas removed from his throat near his vocal chords, and shortly thereafter purchased a house in Montana, after selling his SoHo loft in NYC. Since moving to Montana, Mayer has lead a mostly quiet existence, save for a brief romance with pop star Katy Perry (although it is possible the two are dating again after an apparent break-up, reps have yet to confirm).

Mayer helped organize the concert after a fire blazed through nearby Livingston, MO, in late August of last year, while Mayer was in Los Angeles to treat more granulomas. The singer has been receiving Botox injections in the area to help redux swelling in his vocal chords.

Mayer started the show off with his first live performance of “If I Ever Get Around to Living,”  a new single by the Grammy award winner. The concert took place on January 16th, in Bozeman, and included the Zac Brown Band, and raised more than $100,000.

Connecticut native John Mayer has been back in the news lately, and it once again, is not for anything related to his Grammy Award-winning singing and song-writing. The Bridgeport born crooner suddenly split with pop star Katy Perry last week after a brief but very public relationship, and was spotted out for the first time since the announcement earlier this week. Mayer stopped by a party at Skybar in Los Angeles to support Cambridge’s Mindy Kaling in her latest endeavor, the soon to premiere “The Mindy Project”, a TV show to air on NBC. At the party, Mayer made waves—or rather lack thereof—for his appearance. The formerly long-locked star has returned to his roots and chopped his hair back to a length more similar to what the singer sported when he first appeared on the scene all the way back in 2002 when “No Such Thing” first began rocking the airwaves. Mayer has been in the headlines off and on since that time, dating many high-profile starlets, like Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston, and Taylor Swift.

While there’s been no official word as to what precipitated the breakup with Perry, there likewise has been no word on why the sudden change in appearance. For the past several months, Mayer’s looked more like a Johnny Depp impersonator, growing his dark mane to shoulder length, and wearing layered shirts, vests, jackets, and jewelry increasingly reminiscent of the ever-Boho thespian. Some sources have even speculated that Mayer got a trim as a sort of cleansing ritual post-breakup. What do you think of John’s new look?

Connecticut’s John Mayer has been mostly silent for the past couple years. After highly publicized romances with Jennifer Aniston and Taylor swift, and a few scandalous interviews with Playboy and Rolling Stone, the Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter went on hiatus in an attempt to clear his head. During that time, Mayer ceased giving interviews, tweeting, and appearing in the public eye, while also working on his next album and having vocal chord surgery.

Now, with the break officially over, his latest album just recently had its second straight week atop the Billboard 200 chart. The album, entitled “Born and Raised,” is Mayer’s fifth studio album.

In addition to touring the late night talk shows, Mayer did grant his first interview with Rolling Stone since his now-infamous diatribe referencing a variety of rather uncouth topics, this time commenting on one of his former girlfriends.

“I will say as a songwriter that I think it’s kind of cheap songwriting,” he says. “I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bullshit,” he told the mag. Mayer is of course referencing the Taylor Swift hit, “Dear John,” which was released shortly after Swift and Mayer were romantically linked. Swift has never directly confirmed the song is in fact written about Mayer.

★ Leno leads in ratings once again, but no one looks for him on the ‘net.

★ “Ted” starts shooting this week in Norwood, MA and Kevin James’ new flic is scheduled to begin shooting this spring in Hollywood East!

★ Check out the yearbook photos of some New England stars Ellen Pompeo, John Mayer, and “Bachelorette” Ali Fedotowsky.

★ Boston Common Magazine talks to twice Emmy-nominated Samantha Harris.

★ Kings Back Bay hosts an Oscar viewing party on February 27th.

★ Burlington’s Amy Poehler and her new son.

★ Maine’s Dr. McDreamy becomes Dr. McSpeedy.

★ Famous “Law and Order” duo visits Mark Twain House in Connecticut.

★ Newton’s John Krasinski stars in a new movie with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin.

★ Connecticut’s John Mayer sports a new goatee at the Grammys.

★ Car-tastrophes all around; Patriots star Tom Brady was involved in a car accident in downtown Boston, and Andover grown Jay Leno’s super rare antique car breaks down.

★ ‘Body Snatchers’ actor Kevin McCarthy dies in Hyannis at age 96.

★ Boston Magazine talks to Mark Wahlberg and Wellesley chef Ming Tsai, the host and creator of the cooking show “Simply Ming”.

★ The Improper Bostonian features cover model, “Grey’s Anatomy” actress, and Boston University graduate, Kim Raver.

★ Ben Affleck reveals he’s been dying his hair since movie directing turned him gray. It was worth it though; The Town opened to take the number one spot at the box office in its first weekend.

★ Connecticut born John Mayer talks about why he quit Twitter.

★ Ex-super model Stephanie Seymour calls off her divorce and reunites with her husband in Connecticut.

★ New Celtic Shaq makes his presence felt in Beantown already and crashes a Boston wedding.

★ Lady Gaga holds a rally in Maine to support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

While it’s no secret Boston has become the unofficial capital of Hollywood East, with numerous films and TV shows shooting here each year, it’s been hard not to stumble across camera crews and make-shift sets, despite sometimes very well-guarded production details. What has been kept slightly more hush hush has been the hotspots in the Hub that the stars of these projects hit when they’re not on the clock.

Boston’s restaurant scene has caught the Hollywood wave and starting offering more upscale options. Not surprisingly, many of the celeb favorites are centered around the Back Bay/Newbury Street area. Long-time favorite Sonsie has played host to Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Hulk Hogan, Roger Clinton, and Donnie Wahlberg.

For dessert, it seems that everyone in fact does scream for ice cream. The Newbury Street location of Ben & Jerry’s posts pictures on their walls of the famous faces that often stop by their store. Alec Baldwin, John Mayer, Jane Fonda, Ellen Pompeo, and players from the Celtics have all grabbed a cone recently.

In order to keep in shape (and perhaps work off the pounds from all that ice cream) the Sports Club/LA, adjacent to the Ritz Carlton hotel is arguably one of the most upscale gyms in town. That’s why it’s not surprising that The Rock, Justin Timberlake, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Emilio Estevez, Reese Witherspoon, and Britney Spears have all been spotted working out there at one time or another.

To blow off a little steam in a different sense, Felt Nightclub is a big favorite with the glitterati. Stars like Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Chris Rock have all made a presence there in the past year or so while they’ve been in town for projects. Other stars like Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, and Ben and Casey Affleck frequent the hip spot whenever their roots call them home again.

Speaking of Mark Wahlberg, he and Will Farrell will be at his  restaurant, Alma Nove, in Hingham, MA celebrating the premiere of their new flic, The Other Guys, showing at the Patriot Cinemas in Hangham.  The Alma Nove restaurant is owned by three Wahlberg brothers, including chef Paul Wahlberg, and family friend Ed St. Croix.

There’s a plethora of other places HEC has spotted celebs during their off hours. Singer Seal was seen in Boston’s Public Garden last spring while he was in town to sing the national anthem at Fenway Park. Actress Natalie Portman was in Cambridge in February for a friend’s wedding. Brooke Shields was spotted in her off-time from shooting Furry Vengeance at South Boston eateries Flour2 and Sportello. Funnymen Denis Leary and Lenny Clark grabbed lunch at the Four Seasons last spring while Leary was in town for his son’s graduation from Emerson College. Grown Ups costars David Spade and Colin Quinn were seen last summer grabbing a weekend bite at Sel De La Terre on Boylston Street.

★ The Improper Bostonian features Brittany Curran (above), featured previously here on Hollywood East Connection!

★ The Boston Pops pays tribute to the Kennedy brothers.

★ A local New Bedford man’s hour-long documentary on the Rolling Stones earns him a ticket to party it up in Cannes.

★ Queen Latifah accepts an award from the Boston Women’s Fund at event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

★ Insiders report that Tom Cruise completely lost his cool on the set of Knight and Day.

★ “Glee” star Jane Lynch marries her girlfriend in Sunderland, MA over Memorial Day weekend.

★ A Berklee alum uses his degree to work behind the scenes on “American Idol”.

★ A former Golden Globes reporter and editor for the Boston Globe dies.

On January 6th, the 2010 People’s Choice Awards show will air, selecting the best in music, movies and TV as voted by…well, the people of course! Amongst the nominees that were announced on November 10 in Los Angeles, Hollywood East is well-represented. In the Favorite TV Comedy Actress category, Burlington, MA born Amy Poehler was nominated. In the Favorite Comedic Star category, Adam Sandler is among those selected, who got his start at a Boston comedy club, and spent much of his summer in the area working on Grown Ups and The Zookeeper.

Of movies that were filmed in the hub that were also on the nominations list: The Proposal was nominated for Favorite On-Screen Team, Favorite Movie, as well as Favorite Comedy Movie, as was Bride Wars. Maine’s Patrick Dempsey was nominated in the Favorite TV Drama Actor, and Concord, MA native Steve Carell was no surprise in the Favorite TV Comedy Actor category.

On the musical side, Fairfield, Connecticut’s John Mayer was nominated for Favorite Male Artist. The twisty-faced tune-smith is fond of keeping in touch with his fans via Twitter, and no doubt used this social medium to play to his advantage while votes were being cast.

The 2010 People’s Choice Awards will air live on CBS on Wednesday, January 6, and will be hosted by Queen Latifah.